The Children are Missing
by shelly.hoffer.7
Summary: Jack and Henry have been kidnapped. The BAU team knows who is responsible, but they have to solve a different missing child case before they can get their sons back. Where will the case lead, and will Hotch and JJ be able to control themselves enough to get the case solved?
1. Chapter 1

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 1**

"Ma'am, I am sorry, but we just don't do private cases," Garcia tried to explain to the teary-eyed woman standing in front of her. "We don't take cases unless the local authorities ask us for help, and if the local authorities haven't thought your son's case is part of. . ."

"So because the pathetic excuse for law enforcement in my town doesn't see that these cases are connected, that they aren't willing to see the obvious, your team can't help me?"

"I'm sorry, but no," Garcia understood the woman's frustration, but there wasn't anything the BAU could do.

"Well, maybe once your team checks this out, they reconsider," the woman said flatly as she threw an envelope onto Garcia's desk and walked out.

Garcia looked at the envelope, but Morgan walked into her office. "You ready for lunch, Mama?" She smiled. Grabbed her bag and walked out of her office putting her arm in Morgan's.

XXX

After a great lunch spent with JJ, Reid, and Morgan, Garcia went back to her office. She started going through the files in her 'inbox' but the envelope caught her attention. As she opened it she wondered what the woman thought would change anything. Inside the envelope were two flyers. Garcia's hand went to her opened mouth as her breath caught in her throat. The two flyers chilled her to the bone.

As tears came to her eyes, she stumbled as she tried to get up from her chair and ran to the conference room. The team was in there doing a post case debriefing. They all look up with surprise as Garcia rushed through the door. Garcia froze, looking back and forth between Hotch and JJ. Seeing how disturbed the analysis was, Morgan jumped up. "What is it, Baby Girl?"

"I'm. . . I'm not sure. . . but. . ." she handed Morgan the flyers.

Morgan quickly looked them over. "What the hell?" he wondered as he, too, looked at Hotch and JJ.

JJ, now extremely scared, yelled, "What?"

Morgan walked up to the table and put the flyers down in front of his boss and JJ. As Hotch slowly took in what was in front of him, the blood drained from his face. Staring back at him from the table were pictures of Jack and Henry, both listed as 'Missing' on flyers like so many other children in the world. JJ grabbed the flyer with Henry's picture, panic clearly making its way to the surface.

Hotch stood up, not as panicked as JJ, but clearly upset. "Where did these come from Garcia?"

As Garcia told them the story about the woman, JJ got out her cell and called Will.

"So this woman is threatening, what? That she'll do something to Jack and Henry?" Rossi was trying to figure out what it all meant.

"Will's not answering," JJ said franticly.

"Jack's at school. I would have heard if something had happened." He told them, but was only trying to convince himself of the statement. They all waited in silence as he called the school and JJ tried her home phone.

"Yes, this is Aaron Hotchner, I was. . ."

"Oh, good. We were so worried about you. . ." the secretary started.

"What?"

"Well, when Ms. Brooks came in to pick up Jack, she told us there had been an incident. We were all hoping that everything was alright," she explained.

Hotch's face grew even paler. He didn't want to alarm the woman, so he played along. "Yes. Thank you. I was just wondering if I needed to pick up any work for Jack."

The whole team could tell by Hotch's face and body language that something was very wrong. As soon as he hung up with the school, he tried Jessica's cell and then Jessica's house. Neither he nor JJ got an answer. On the verge of panic himself, Hotch looked at Garcia who had started crying.

"Ohhhh, sir. I didn't realize. . ."

"What was her name, Garcia?" Hotch asked trying to stay calm and focused.

"Ummm. . . I'll go get the file." She ran to her office with Morgan behind her.

"You can't be mad at Garcia, guys. She didn't know," Blake told Hotch and JJ.

Reid was hugging JJ. "Of course not. She couldn't have realized that psychotic bitch would come after our sons," JJ said truthfully.

"Of course not," Rossi agreed. Hotch nodded his agreement, not sure he could trust his voice.

Garcia came back carrying her laptop. Morgan handed Hotch the file folder that held everything Garcia had received from the woman. "Kahlan Hunter, age 40, lives in Reliance, SD." Garcia started to rattle off everything she could find about the woman. Hotch tuned her out as he looked over the file Garcia had accumulated from the woman. JJ joined Garcia and Morgan to look at the computer screen. Rossi, Reid, and Blake took turns looking over the items in the paper folder once Hotch was done with them. Reid was spreading them out on the conference room table, already starting a profile in his head. After all of the information was sorted and organized, they all stared at the table. Hotch picked up a print out of an enlarged photo of the woman's driver's license, committing the woman's face to memory with lethal intent.

"Hunter's son went missing three years ago. After no leads, the search was called off after two weeks?" Blake thought that seemed a little too quick to drop a missing child search.

"And since then she had taken it upon herself to do some research and found these other missing kids. Eight boys, all from different states, and all with some of the same characteristics as her own son's abduction." Reid picked up the narrative.

"She took her findings to the local police in all of the cases and none of them saw the connection?" Rossi asked with disbelief.

"There were only seven boys at the beginning. When she couldn't get anywhere with them, she came to me. First, she sent me a letter. Then eventually she sent me the email." Garcia started. "I told her we couldn't do private cases the first time she contacted me six months ago. I told her to go back to the police. I tried to tell her that if she could get them to invite us in that we'd. . ." Garcia took a deep breath.

"It's not your fault, Kitten," Rossi assured her.

She nodded and went on. "She begged me to help her. She insisted that the abductions were connected. She thought that meant FBI involvement since they crossed state lines, and she was right. I then gave her the information to the office I thought she should contact. I don't know how that went. That was two months ago. Then she showed up here this morning with the information on the newest boy. I again stressed to her that we couldn't get involved and that's when she gave me the envelope."

"We need to find her," JJ told them.

Garcia noticed how red JJ's face was. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get any contact information from her. I didn't know. ." Garcia started to tear up again.

"We will find her, Baby Girl," Morgan reassured her.

She nodded and went back to her laptop. "The last hit on her credit card was her flight to Dulles last night. If she is staying anywhere, she had to use cash."

Hotch finally stood up again. "We need to check out our houses. Morgan, Reid, Blake, you three go with JJ. We need to see if there is any evidence. . ." He couldn't bring himself to say anything else. They all knew what he was thinking, and they were all silently praying they didn't find any blood at the scene. JJ quickly walked out of the room followed by Reid and Blake. "Morgan," Hotch stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Keep a close eye on her," Hotch told him seriously, obviously referring to JJ. Morgan nodded and headed out the door.

Rossi had keys in his hand. Hotch looked at him questioningly. "I'll drive," Rossi told him as he patted Hotch's shoulder as Hotch walked past him.

XXX

As Rossi pulled into Hotch's driveway, he immediately noticed the woman leaning up against Hotch's garage door. Before he could say anything, though, Hotch was out of the vehicle and heading down the driveway before Rossi even brought the SUV to a stop. "Hotch!" Rossi yelled as tried to grabb Hotch's arm and missed.

Hotch advanced on the woman quickly, and one of his hands went straight to her throat. Rossi threw the SUV in park, jumped out, and ran up to Hotch. Hotch's long fingers wrapped around the woman's throat with ease. Rossi noticed that Hotch wasn't squeezing, though, thankfully. Hotch's stare was even more deadly than it usually was, and Rossi was worried that Hotch was going to kill the woman right there in his own driveway.

"Go ahead, kill me! I basically died when Wyatt went missing. You at least have a chance of seeing your son again," Kahlan said flatly. Rossi noticed that the woman wasn't even scared as she stared Hotch in the eyes.

"Hotch!" Rossi yelled at him. Hotch's nostrils flared as he tried to get his anger under control. "You're not helping Jack by doing this!" Rossi was hoping he was getting through to his friend.

Hotch loosened his grip a little. He was truly on the verge of strangling the life out of the woman. Finally, the agent in him forced reason into his mind and he let Kahlan's neck go. With a sound like a growl, he moved away from her.

Kahlan didn't move. She just stood there as she watched Hotch. As Hotch moved further away, Rossi put himself between them. Rossi couldn't believe what Hotch had almost just done. Hotch ran a hand over his face. Rossi looked at Kahlan. "So, let me get straight. Your son goes missing, you connect it to other missing boys, and when you don't get the help you want, you kidnap our son's in retaliation?" Jack and Henry were considered the whole team's kids as they all considered themselves one big family.

"Not in retaliation. More of an insurance policy," she told him flatly.

"What?" Hotch yelled getting closer to her. Rossi stopped him with a hand on his chest. Hotch was too angry to think, so Rossi had to do enough for the both of them.

"So, we find your son, and we get ours back?" Rossi asked as he kept Hotch in his peripheral view.

She nodded. "When you find Wyatt, when you find all of those boys, Jack and Henry will be returned to their homes."

"And Will and Jessica?" Rossi didn't like the way Kahlan didn't speak of them, and he was worried something had already happened to them.

"Of course."

"And what's happening to them in the meanwhile?" Hotch asked frantically.

She turned to Hotch slowly. "I guess I'll leave that up to your imagination being that's all I have had for the past three years."

The look on Hotch's face scared Rossi. He looked like he was about ready to lose it and do more than just strangle the woman. Rossi stepped closer to him, hoping he would be able to stop Hotch from doing something drastic. "And if we can't find your son?" Hotch asked her through clenched teeth.

"You all are the best. Do you doubt your team's ability?" Kahlan asked him with a smirk. Hotch stood there. He knew there were ways for bodies to be disposed of. What if there was nothing for them to find? What if they found the other boys but not her son? As if reading Hotch's dark thoughts, she added, "There is bound to be some evidence of what happened to my son and those other boys," she added coldly.

"And where will you be during this whole thing?" Rossi asked her with a glance at Hotch.

"Wherever you want me to be," she returned to her dispassionate voice. "You wanna lock me up? So be it. You want me where you can see me? Fine. You want me help in the search? Great! I don't care what you do to me as long as you find my son!"

Hotch shot Rossi a look. They were thinking the same thing. If she was willing to give herself up, then she must have someone else holding them. _She wouldn't just leave them, would she?_ "Someone else is watching them?" Hotch asked. Hotch studied her face, but it didn't give anything away, and she didn't answer. "How do we even know they are still alive?"

"You don't," she deadpanned.

Hotch took another step toward her. Rossi put a hand on his shoulder. Rossi could tell he was about to lose it again.

"And now you have an inkling of what I've been going through," she told him coldly.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 2**

Rossi pulled Hotch away from her and down to the end of the driveway. They needed to talk privately. "Hotch, you need to get control of yourself. If this woman has Jack and them, then we are going to have to play by her rules until we figure out where they are. If you kill her, and I know you want to, hell I want to kill her, but if she's dead we're going to have a really hard time finding them." Rossi understood Hotch's reactions, but he had to push his anger away to be able to do the job that needed to be done.

"How do we even know she has them? How do we even know they are alive? Why should we help her find her son just to find out later that ours are dead?"

"What if they are not dead? Do you want to take that chance?" Hotch's hands balled into fists as he bit his lip. Rossi thought Hotch might just bite through it with as much anger that he was emitting. "Hotch?"

"I can't, Dave. I can't concentrate on finding someone else's kid when I don't know if my own is alive," Hotch told him truthfully.

Rossi studied him for a moment. "If I can get her to give us some proof that they are alive, would you be willing them?"

Hotch paced back and forth in front of Rossi, glancing back at the woman every few seconds. Rossi could tell he was having an argument within himself. "I don't know. What I do know is that I want to _make_ that bitch tell me where my son is."

"Look at her, Hotch. She didn't even flinch when you grabbed her by the throat. You really think you could make her talk?"

Hotch stopped and took a deep breath. He had stared down some of the worst serial killers in the country, and he had won, yet this woman had stared right back without any fear. He rubbed his neck as he looked at the woman again.

"Don't look at her as a father. What does the profiler in you see when you look at her?"

Hotch took another deep breath. "I see a woman who has lost everything. A woman who doesn't feel anything anymore. A woman who would do anything for her son." Hotch's shoulders finally relaxed a little. "No, I don't think she could be made to talk."

"I don't think so either. Do you want me to ask for proof of life?" Rossi asked as he studied Hotch's face.

"You can try."

"Alright, stay here. She might react better without you standing beside her while your vibrating with anger." Rossi walked back over to the woman.

"He wants to kill me doesn't he?" Kahlan asked as she continued to look at Hotch. Rossi glared at her. "It's alright if he does. I've felt that way ever since Wyatt went missing. At least he has someone to aim his anger at, I never have. All I've ever had is this imagined person in my head."

"I don't think we can help you find your son unless we have proof that ours are alive." Rossi studied her. "We can't concentrate on finding yours without knowing."

"Hhmmph." She shook her head. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know."

"You do know we can arrest you, and you'll never find your son sitting in a jail cell," Rossi told her, his anger starting to show.

"Sure, you could arrest me, but you'd just have to let me go because you don't have any proof that I have done anything wrong. All you have are a couple of flyers that prove nothing especially if I say that I was just trying to get you all to feel sorry for me," she told him with feigned pity. "And then you all can drive yourselves crazy trying to find your sons, like I've done for three years. You just have to ask yourself one question. Will they still be alive when you do?" She gave Rossi a folded up piece of paper and turned to walk away.

Rossi glanced at Hotch and Hotch knew what her answer was. "Wait!" Hotch yelled as he quickly walked up to her. She looked at him, clearly disappointed. "Why? Why, as a parent would you do this to another parent?" Hotch asked her desperately as his eyes teared up.

"Because I can't find him on my own. Because I have run out of resources and patience. Because I have asked for help from everyone I know of, and this was my last ditch effort," she told him truthfully. "But you all think about it. Give me a call if you want. I won't be in town long, though, so don't take too long." And she walked down the driveway and down the street.

Hotch watched her until he couldn't see her anymore and then turned and went into his house. They didn't find anything out of order and Hotch realized that if she got Jessica to pick up Jack at school then the evidence would be at Jessica's anyway. Rossi and Hotch went over there, but again found nothing. A call from Morgan revealed the same results at JJ's house and they decided to meet back at the BAU.

XXX

Hotch and Rossi made it back to the conference room before the others. Hotch paced the room as Rossi looked at the information spread out on the table. Rossi looked at Hotch and he could see the tears quietly falling down Hotch's cheeks. He had never seen the man so unraveled. Damn, even when the man was talking to his ex-wife knowing she was about ready to be killed by Foyet, Hotch had held it together better than he was right then.

They rest of the team came into the room, and Rossi noticed Hotch wipe his face and tried to get his emotions under control. With one look at JJ, Rossi could tell she had been crying, too.

"We need to find this woman. I bet I could get her to tell us where the kids are if you give me fifteen minutes alone with her," Morgan announced.

"That wouldn't work," Rossi told him dryly and proceeded to tell them about the encounter with the woman when Garcia joined them.

"Then we'll work the case without you two," Reid told Hotch and JJ. "We can find this woman's son and you two won't have to deal with her."

Hotch looked at Reid, he could tell they were all just as upset as he was and yet he seemed to be the only asshole in the room. "I can't ask you guys to do that." Reid was about to argue, but Hotch continued, "not without us."

JJ looked so relieved. "Thank God, Hotch. I didn't want to think about doing this if you weren't with us."

Rossi gave Hotch a small smile. He turned to Garcia. "I want the name of the person you had Kahlan contact here at the Bureau. There is no excuse for not doing something with this case."

"Of course." She brought out the information on her laptop.

"We are taking this case because it does come under our jurisdiction, but the fact of Jessica and them missing doesn't leave the seven of us. Is that clear?" Hotch told them and waited to get agreements from them all. Then he turned to Rossi. "You want to call Mrs. Hunter and let her know we're taking her case?"

Rossi nodded. "You want her here?"

Hotch could tell by Rossi's tone that he was also asking Hotch if he thought could control himself. Hotch looked at JJ, wanting her opinion. His wasn't the only child this woman had control over.

"She might have even more information than is in this file. She might actually be useful," Reid pointed out.

"Can you all control yourselves and not try to kill the woman at first sight?" Rossi asked them all but clearly looking at Hotch, JJ, and Morgan.

"Yes. Have her come here." JJ told him as Hotch nodded. Rossi walked out of the room to make the call.

"The agent's name is Special Agent Davidson in the Missing Children's Division," Garcia told them.

"Have him meet me in my office," Morgan told her. He not only out ranked the man, but the BAU had a sort of priority over most of the other divisions.

Garcia looked at Hotch for approval before calling. "Do it," he told her simply and she dialed the man's extension.

Reid started putting the missing boys' pictures on the white boards in chronological order base on their missing dates. Blake started separating the information that Garcia had complied why they were gone on each of the boys. Hotch just sat at the table and stared at the flyers of Jack and Henry. JJ sat there and stared at missing boys' photos. She finally realized that they were all blond haired, blue eyed boys just like Jack and Henry. Her stomach turned and she had to look away.

Hotch got up and studied the boards. He had to keep telling himself it was just another case that he needed to solve. He told himself that his son was at school, Jessica was at her house, and Henry was at home with Will. If he could focus on the case, then he might be able to handle it. He found himself getting mad at the local police and that dumbass Davidson. How could they not see the connection between these boys? This should have been an FBI case a while ago. Eight boys had gone missing and the only one to make a connection was a scared and desperate mother. For a second, Hotch felt bad for her, and then his anger squashed that feeling down.

Eight missing boys. First was Thomas, Tommy, Smith, age 7 from Kaysville, Utah, in 2005; then Christopher, Chris, Jackson, age 7, from Pocatello, Idaho, in 2006; Joshua, Josh, Getz, age 8 from Butte, Montana, in 2007; Devin Crocket, age 7 from Bowman, North Dakota, in 2008; Wyatt Hunter, age 6 from Reliance, South Dakota in 2009; Kyle Redmen, age 7 from Chadron, Nebraska, in 2010; Michael, Mike, Jenkins, age 6 from Bellevue, Colorado in 2011; and Damien Brant, age 8 from Vernal, Utah, in 2012.

All of the boys went missing in the fall, and until Damien they'd each been from a different state. And in every case a postcard was left. Each of the postcards showed a state monument for the state they were in, and they had all been filled out as if the boys were telling their parents goodbye. Every card was word for word. Hotch couldn't help but notice that all of those states surrounded Wyoming. That had to be where the unsub lived. With the strict age and look of the boys, they were definitely looking for a preferential abductor. What was happening to the boys was only a guess at that point. With the yearly cycle, though, he could see it being a sexual sadist, but he wouldn't talk about that in front of Kahlan, not unless they were sure it was part of the profile. If it was a sadist that probably meant the only boy left alive was Damien. Hotch didn't want to think about what would happen to Jack and them if they truly didn't find Wyatt or any evidence of his whereabouts. She might have said that it didn't matter, but what would stop her from killing them? He took a deep breath; the first thing they had to do was interview the families. They had to find out exactly what these boys were doing when they went missing. "Garcia, you need to contact the families and let them know we'll be coming out to interview them."

"Yes, sir. Any idea where you will go first?" She asked him.

"Utah, since that's where the newest case is," he told her simply.

"Sir, is Kahlan going to be traveling with you all?" Garcia asked, apparently concerned as much as Hotch about who would be taking care of Jack and them.

"Yes. I've decided I don't want to let her out of my sight. When Rossi gets back in here, I want you to get her number from him. Make sure you have a trace on that phone and keep track of every call."

She nodded her understanding. She would also keep track of the woman in other ways. Garcia felt bad for the woman from the first letter, but taking her God-son was just wrong. She couldn't feel compassion for the woman anymore. In fact, she didn't even want to be in the same room with her, so she grabbed her laptop, texted Rossi to get the number, and retreated into her lair.

Rossi had gone to pick up Kahlan and her things from a local hotel. He escorted her into the conference room right as Morgan got done chewing Davidson a new ass for not making a case out of the missing boys. Morgan eyed the woman but not as menacing as JJ did. Kahlan didn't flinch, though. She looked at all of them, she could tell that they would prefer her dead, but she had done her research and knew this team was the one to be handling the case. She had made up her mind to do this, and she wasn't going to back down, so she just jumped in and asked; "Where are you going to start?"

"We are going to interview the families," Reid told her as he tried to ease the tension in the room.

"I've talked with them. They will be glad you are investigating," she told him as she walked over and leaned on the wall to be out of the way.

"Do they know what you've done?" Hotch asked her.

"No!" she answered immediately actually offended.

"Have you talked to all of the families personally?" Blake asked.

"Not the Brants'. I haven't had a chance to talk with them in person, but I have talked to them on the phone."

"We'll split into pairs and interview the families like that. JJ and Reid, you'll take the two families in Utah. Morgan and Blake take Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Rossi and I will take South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado. Decide where you want to be taken first. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch told them and they all grabbed the information on the families they would be interviewing.

On her way out of the room JJ stopped in front of Kahlan. She couldn't help herself. "You do know that you won't get away with this. That even if we find your son, that you're never going to be with him because you will spend the rest of your life in jail, right?"

"If you all find him, and he is alright, then he will spend the rest of his life knowing I did what I had to do to find him. He can live with his grandparents, and I'll be happy with that," she told JJ truthfully.

JJ stared at her for a moment and then went to get her things ready.


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 3**

"You might want to tell them to pack warm clothes. It's still cold up North," Kahlan told Hotch. He was the only one left in the room, so Kahlan assumed she was supposed to stick with him. Hotch didn't say anything to her. _So he's ignoring me. I can't blame him, though._ She sat down on the floor next to her bag and reached in it and took out a bottle of Tylenol. After shaking several pills into her hand, she put the top back on the bottle and tossed back the pills without water. She put the bottle back in the bag and just sat there, waiting.

Hotch texted the team and told them to remember their coats. He also noticed Kahlan taking the pills, but he focused on the file in his hands. They were going to go to her hometown first. South Dakota had a below average 'missing children' report compared to most states, but Hotch figured that had a lot to do with the overall low population of the state. He knew from Garcia's research that the town was extremely small, as were most of the small towns in South Dakota. He also knew that she wasn't from the town; she had just been living there for the past five years. Apparently the woman had moved around a lot, but her husband was from there. He had died when Wyatt was two in some accident. Wyatt was the woman's only child.

Rossi came back into the room quickly. He had his bag in his hand, ready to go. He glanced from Hotch to Kahlan, apparently checking to make sure Hotch hadn't killed her in their absence. "Go get your stuff. I'll take her to the jet," Rossi told Hotch. Hotch looked at Kahlan then nodded to Rossi and left the room. Kahlan stood up, grabbed her bag, and looked at Rossi. "You in a hurry to get home?" Rossi asked her.

"No, just in a hurry for you all to start. I don't understand why you need to go to Reliance if all you're doing is interviewing families, I'm right here," She told him.

"We're not just interviewing, we're checking out the sites of the abductions, too," Rossi told her.

XXX

Rossi put Kahlan in the seat all the way in the back of the jet, and made sure Hotch and JJ sat as close to the front as possible. In fact, he had considered trying to put Hotch in the cockpit, but he knew Hotch wouldn't go for it.. South Dakota was going to be the first stop, but the flight was still going to last four hours. Rossi knew Hotch wanted Kahlan with him, but Rossi was worried that Hotch wouldn't be able to keep a lid on his anger. Rossi had argued with Hotch through texting that Reid and Blake should be paired and take Kahlan with them, but Hotch was adamantly against it. Rossi figured that Hotch wanted the woman around to keep an eye on her. He wanted to profile her, but she wasn't making it easy. She never backed down from a stare from any of them. Rossi figured she was either fearless or crazy, and either one could mean a lot of trouble.

Hotch watched Kahlan as she stared out the window. She had head phones on, and he assumed she was listening to music. He thought she looked tired. _She was probably up all night planning on how to abduct Jack and Henry,_ he thought with disgust. He shook his head. _Concentrate on the damn case, Hotchner!_ He looked at the file in his hands but his gaze drifted back to Kahlan. Her leg was shaking, and Hotch couldn't figure out if it was nerves or impatience.

Rossi caught Hotch staring at Kahlan again, and he cleared his throat. Hotch glared at Rossi for a second, but went back to studying his file. Rossi knew that if Hotch figured out a way to find Jessica and them, there wouldn't be any chance of stopping him from ripping the woman apart. JJ would probably beat the shit out of the woman, but Rossi didn't think JJ would kill the woman. _I just hope that getting Hotch on the ground and into the case will keep him occupied._

Garcia popped up on the screen beside them. "Hey crime fighters." She looked around at them, clearly looking to see if Kahlan was within screen shot.

"What's the news, Mama?" Morgan asked.

"We have a problem," she started and then took a deep breath.

"Just one?" JJ asked sarcastically.

Garcia gave her a small smile. "The eight boys we thought were connected have actually turned into fifteen boys."

"What?" Blake asked confused.

Hotch noticed that Kahlan took the headphones off.

"My search of missing boys under the age of ten brought up way too many to ever sleep peacefully again, but when I factored in the creepy postcard, it brought up seven more boys. The really weird thing about those seven is that they went missing in the mid-nineties. They are from the same states, though, with one from each."

The team started going through the photos that had arrived on their tablets. "Those boys would be in their twenties by now. If they were never found, they have to be dead," Reid pointed out.

"It almost seems like whoever is doing this, is on his second set of boys," Blake injected.

Hotch noticed Kahlan wipe a tear from her cheek as she turned further into the window. _So, she can feel something._ "And you're sure they were never found?" He asked Garcia.

"They were never removed from the missing lists, and I can't find anything on them as adults."

"We should look into John Does found in the targeted states and see if any match the missing," Rossi told her.

"By your command," Garcia told him and signed off.

"So he either took time off in between the sets, or he kept them until they reached a certain age," JJ wondered.

"We aren't even sure it is a 'he' yet. Women are capable of abduction," Hotch told them quietly with a glance at Kahlan. He saw her huff. _Damn, she's got good hearing._

"Hotch is right. This may not be a sexual sadist, this could be mother looking for a son, or even someone making a family," Reid pointed out.

"There is a lot of land in all of those states. If someone wanted to dump a body or several bodies, it would be really hard to find," Morgan added.

"Why during the fall?" Hotch wondered.

"Harvest," Kahlan injected from the rear of the plane.

"What?" Hotch asked her.

"Harvest season. It's the only time of the year when a bunch of strangers show up in town. Any other time of the year a stranger would stand out like a sore thumb in most of the towns. That's the thing with small towns, everyone knows everyone," she explained. "That's what gives us the illusion of being safe," she added sarcastically.

Reid clicked the laptop to bring Garcia back on. "What can I do for you, my spindly genius?"

Reid gave her a strange look. "Can you track groups who travel around to harvest crops?" he asked her.

"If they report the earnings or advertise their services, I can. I will add that to my search," and she signed off again.

"She won't find anything. The combiners were the first people I tracked down," Kahlan told them flatly.

"Is there anyone else you want to scratch off the list? Or maybe someone you would like to add?" Hotch asked her with disdain.

She stared at him. "Sorry. I'll shut up."

Reid looked at Hotch with concern. When he didn't get a reaction from him, he looked at Rossi.

Rossi got up. "Hotch, can I talk you a minute?" Rossi asked him as he headed to the break area.

Hotch rolled his eyes, but got up to follow the older man. Rossi pulled the curtain shut behind them. "Hotch, that woman has been trying to find her son for over three years. We should be asking her for any and all information that she has gathered. Unless, of course, you would rather not use her information and spend a bunch of wasted time tracking down things that have already been tracked down."

"I can't think of her as a victim, Dave. All I see when I look at her is an unsub who is responsible for my own son to be missing."

"Then maybe you should stay on the jet and go back home. She can help us if we let her, and I would think you would want the help so we can solve this case as soon as possible."

Hotch ran his hand down his face and took a deep breath. "You're right."

"Yep."

"I can't promise I can be nice to her, but I will try to keep the bastard in me from coming to the surface," Hotch confessed. Rossi gave him a small smile and patted him on the back as he walked past him to go back to his seat.

Rossi noticed that Kahlan had put her headphones back on and the music was loud enough that everyone knew she couldn't hear what they were saying. _Well, that's subtle._ Rossi shook his head. Apparently Hotch wasn't the only stubborn one on the plane. _If I live through this, it will be a miracle_. Rossi shook his head and went past his seat to Kahlan. He sat down in front of her and waited for her to acknowledge his presence.

After a couple of deep breaths, she removed the head phones and turned off her music. "I'm sorry I stuck my nose in. I will keep my comments to myself," she told him and went to put her headphones back on.

"Actually, I would like to hear about any other theories you may have," Rossi told her nicely.

Kahlan looked at him, trying to figure out if he was sincere. "Alright. I figured that they strike in the fall because of the harvest. They, he, or _she_, would be able to blend in with all of the extra traffic in and out of town. I checked out all of the groups who were in the towns, and none of them have worked all of the states. The distance between all of the towns is too great for the same company to be able to actually work the harvests," she explained.

"So the company in Reliance wouldn't be able to harvest the crops there and move on to harvest the crops in all of the other towns?"

"Harvesting would be done by the time they could get to all of the states. It's not possible for one person to work all of them."

"So you ruled them out. Is there anyone else that you have come across that seems more promising?"

"Do you really think I would need your all's help if I had an idea of who it was? Believe me, if I had thought I had found the person responsible, I would have spent the rest of my life following him until I either found my son or knew what happened to him."

Rossi knew that was the truth. "Still though, for someone to use the harvest as a cover he would have to have knowledge of farm life."

"Or at least live around it. I've never worked on a farm, but I understand the basics just by being around those who do."

"Do all of these families with missing sons live around farming communities?"

"All of the ones in the smaller towns are. Farming and ranching are the ways of life in these states except for the bigger cities."

"Ranching? Is there anything specific going on with them during the fall?"

Kahlan considered for a moment. "Calving is in the spring, but I guess there are a lot cattle sales going on in the fall, but ranchers are more geared toward preparing for the winter months. The ranchers themselves stay pretty close to home because of all of the work they have."

Rossi processed the information and went to get up. "Thank you," he told her and went back to the team.


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 4**

"So after you interview the families, try to get a feel of the towns. We need to know if an influx of harvest workers really makes that big of a difference, or if there are any other specific things going on in the fall that would allow our unsub to enter the town without being noticed," Hotch explained to the group.

"Wait, you're going to be walking around Reliance asking a bunch of questions?" Kahlan asked from the back of the plane.

Hotch gave her one of his stares and squinted his eyes a little. "Is there some reason you don't want us poking around your town?" he asked in a very accusing tone.

She laughed. "Nooo," she bit her lip. "I'm just picturing you walking around Reliance's dirt roads." She laughed again. "You may want to lose the suit. People in small towns don't like outsiders, and the more outsider you look, the more they'll distrust you." She looked him up and down. "Maybe if you changed your clothes they would feel more comfortable around you and open up more."

"Should I get a cowboy hat?" He asked her his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She laughed even harder as she pictured that in her head. "Nah, they're more farmers than ranchers, but even if you put on a ball cap and put a can of chew in your back pocket, you still wouldn't fit in. You're hands are too pale."

"My hands?" Hotch asked looking at his own hands. "What the hell do my hands have to do with it?"

"Your hands clearly belong to I man was spends most of his time inside. Hands are the one thing most farmers and ranchers never cover up except in winter. Sure the younger ones go around without sleeves or even go without shirts, but once they're older they start to cover up. The hands, though, the older you are the darker they are."

Hotch took a deep breath, he had the horrible feeling that he was being profiled by the woman. She was right, of course, but he didn't like it. He checked his watch. They only had about thirty minutes before they landed. "Well, I guess, I'll go change." He grabbed his bag and headed to the restroom.

Reid and JJ exchanged small smiles. Hotch was the only one on the plane that looked overly official.

Blake turned to Kahlan. "Any other advice you can give us for the other towns and families?"

"Just try not to be so forceful. And if they offer you any sort of hospitality, take it. They'll be offended you refuse."

"What do you mean by hospitality?" Reid asked clearly worried.

"You know, if they offer you a cup of coffee or something." Kahlan explained as she gave Reid a weird look.

Reid straightened, apparently thinking something completely different. "Oh," is all he said. Rossi shook his head, not wanting to know.

Hotch finally emerged wearing a pair of dark jeans, a long sleeve dark blue polo shirt, and his tennis shoes. "Better?" he asked the team, obviously not wanting Kahlan's opinion.

Rossi let out a small chuckle. "Sure," he lied.

"Well, you definitely look less official," Blake told him seriously.

"Fifteen minutes to Mitchell, agents," a voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Mitchell?" Kahlan asked

"It's the closest air strip big enough for us to land on," Rossi told her. "We'll have a vehicle waiting."

"God I hope it's not a foreign car," she said as she got her bag ready.

"You got something against foreign cars?" Morgan asked her.

"Not me personally, but the people in these towns look at foreign cars as a smack to the American way of life. You'll be accepted better if you're driving American made."

"How long will it take to get to Reliance," Rossi asked her.

"About an hour," she told him as she buckled her seat belt.

The rest of the way was spent in silence as they waited for the plane to land. Hotch, Rossi, and Kahlan got off and the plane taxied to take off to North Dakota to drop off Morgan and Blake. Before Rossi could even open the door on the Chevy Suburban, Rossi's phone vibrated. As he got in he looked at the text from Morgan telling him to keep an eye on Hotch. _Apparently I'm not the only one worried_, Rossi thought as he put his phone away. Kahlan directed Hotch to the interstate, as she took out the bottle of Tylenol. Hotch noticed her shake a couple pills out into her hand, shake the bottle some more, put a couple pills back into the bottle, and finally swallowed some. He was sure some of the pills were not the color of any Tylenol that he had ever seen. He made a mental note to inspect the bottle as soon as he had a chance.

Kahlan checked her watch and looked out the window at the approaching clouds. It was already 6:47. "With as late as it is, are you going to check out Reliance tonight? It'll be getting dark by the time we get there."

"We'll find somewhere to stay and start in the morning," Rossi told her as he turned around to face her.

"There no place to stay in Reliance, but the next town over has a small hotel. With the weather coming in, though, you may just want to stay at my house," she suggested.

"Weather?" Hotch asked looking at her through the mirror.

"Wow, you guys headed north and you didn't even check the weather?"

"It's March. How bad can it get?" Rossi asked with furrowed brows.

"We've had blizzards in April. There's supposed to be storm coming in tonight. Possible six to eight inches with strong winds, a blizzard in the making," she told them. "I hope you packed your boots and gloves," she added with a chuckle.

Rossi took out his phone to alert the rest of the team to keep an eye on the weather.

"If you want an actual meal, you're going to have to stop before or in Chamberlain. No place to eat in Reliance either," she told them as she leaned the seat back like she was going to take a nap.

"Is there anything in Reliance beside houses?" Rossi asked her jokingly.

"We've got a bar, a co-op, and a convenience store that's only open for twelve hours a day," she told them dryly.

**XXXXX**

_Somewhere in Wyoming_

"I told you boys to shut up!" A man yelled from across the barn. He spit a mouthful of saliva and tobacco onto the ground as he put a saddle on its post next to the barn wall. "Wyatt! Go get those two boys to shut up!" the man yelled to a boy who was putting another saddle away.

"Yes, sir," Wyatt said as he headed down the hallway in between horse stalls to the stall in the very back of the barn. "Mike, Damien, the old man said to shut up. If you don't stop crying you know what he'll do," Wyatt pleaded with them.

Mike was the younger of the boys. He looked at Wyatt and stopped crying. "Why Wyatt? What did I do to deserve being put in the barn?"

"I don't know Mike. I was out with the old man working cattle all day. You had to have made Ma'am mad. What did you do in the house?" Wyatt asked.

Suddenly Mike knew what he had done wrong. "I didn't make my bed," he confessed.

"Ahh, Mike. You know better than that by now."

"What's going on? Who's Ma'am?" Damien asked frantically as he rubbed his bruised cheek.

"You haven't met her yet. You won't get to meet her until the old man lets you out of the barn," Wyatt explained to the frightened boy. "You'll stay in the barn until spring. If you survive that long, they'll move you into the house with the rest of us."

Damian looked like he was going to start crying again. "Why do I have to stay in the barn until spring?"

"Cause that's how long it takes to make sure you'll be good once he lets you out," Mike told him.

"I don't want to go into the house. I want to go home!" Damien screamed as he started crying again.

"Damien, if don't stop you know he'll come back here, and you'll know what he'll do," Wyatt told him. Wyatt was only one year older than Damien, put he had lived at the farm for over three years, so he knew exactly what would happen.

"Did Tommy come back with you guys?" Mike asked. He liked Tommy. Tommy was the oldest, but he looked out for the younger boys.

"Yeah, he got back. The old man had him and Chris run the calves up to the northern pasture," Wyatt told him. None of the boys liked Chris, the second oldest, cause he liked to beat on them just like the old man. All of the boys knew it was Chris who killed Devin. Chris said Devin fell off the roof, but they all knew Chris pushed him. The old man and Ma'am wouldn't listen to it, though, cause Chris was the old man's favorite.

"Wyatt, I'm scared. I don't wanna stay here. I wanna go home," Damien told him.

"I know Damien, but you know you can't," Wyatt told him sadly.

"But you could let me out. You could get the keys and let me out," Damien tried to convince the older boy.

Wyatt gave him a horrified look. "Not me! Kyle tried that with Mike last winter, and the old man killed him. Besides, there ain't no where for you to go. It's too cold and too far for anyone to help you. You're better off just staying and listening."

"Wyatt! Get your sorry ass up out here and put the horses away!" they heard the old man yell. All three of the boys flinched at the sound of his voice.

"Yes, sir!" Wyatt yelled and ran out to the horses.

**XXXXX**

As Hotch finally pulled off the interstate, he shared a look with Rossi.

Kahlan laughed. "You just don't get the whole 'small town' thing until you actually see it." She gave Hotch turn by turn directions to her house which lasted all of two turns. She climbed out of the SUV and headed to her front door. Hotch and Rossi got out and looked around like they really couldn't believe what they were seeing.

As Kahlan crunched through the snow she slipped at little as she got close to the porch. "Watch it, there's some ice under the snow."

"I can't believe you still have snow up here," Rossi exclaimed as he followed her to the porch.

Kahlan stomped her feet to clean the snow off and went inside the house. She reached for the porch light as Rossi followed her inside. "

"You don't lock your door? Even when you go out of town?" Hotch asked with concern.

"I would bet there's not a locked door in this whole town," she told him as she put her bag on the island in the kitchen and went around to turn on the lights. "Wyatt's abduction had been the only real crime in this town in a long time."

"And yet you still don't lock your door?" Rossi asked as he put his own bag on the floor. He looked around and found the house very clean, almost as if no one even lived in it.

"Wyatt was taken outside." She took off her coat and hung it on a hook beside the door. "I wouldn't want Wyatt to come home one day and not be able to get in," she told them as she grabbed the coffee pot and started filling it with water. "Coffee?"

Rossi nodded and took off his own coat. Hotch just stood there watching her.

She strated the coffee and went to the fridge. "No milk, hope you like it black."

Rossi noticed the fridge was empty except for a few condiments in the door. He glanced at Hotch and realized Hotch had seen it, too.

"So are you staying here or not? I don't care either way, I just need to know."

"We wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Rossi told her nicely.

"Kennebec is two exits down, but I honestly think you are going to get stuck where ever you stay. If the snow comes in tonight, you won't be traveling anywhere tomorrow." She grabbed her bag and headed down the hall, apparently giving them a moment to speak alone.

"What to do you want to do?" Rossi asked Hotch who still hadn't taken off his coat or set his bag down.

"Have you ever driven in a blizzard?"

"Nope. You?"

"No. I don't want her to have a day alone. Maybe we should just stay here."

"I think that would be the wisest thing to do. Maybe the weather won't be that bad and we can get an early start here in town."

"I don't think it will take us very long even if we interviewed every person in town," Hotch told him, clearly not impressed with the little town.

"So which is it?" Kahlan asked as she came back down the hall. "I only have one guest room, but the couch is pretty comfortable."

"We'll stay, if you're sure it won't be a problem," Rossi told her as Hotch finally took off his coat.

"If you're hungry, the bar serves a decent burger."

"Would you be joining us?" Hotch asked her.

"Sure, it will be easier for you guys to be seen with me than to be alone. I can introduce you and let you guys talk to whoever is up there."

"Do you all have your own police?" Rossi asked as he and Hotch put their coats back on.

Kahlan laughed at that. "No. Just Lyman County Police. Their station is in Kennebec. One of the Deputies might be up at the bar, though. They stop in and eat and drink from time to time."

"Then let's go," Rossi said heading to the door.

Hotch waited for Kahlan to follow Rossi out. He shut the door and went to the SUV. "It's two blocks that way. That and the co-op are the only things left open on main street."

They let Kahlan walk into the bar first. Hotch had to hide a laugh as they looked around the old bar. It was one long room with a bar running along the right and five booths on the left wall. There was only three other people in it. The bar represented the town perfectly. They followed Kahlan up to the bar.

"Hey Kay!" an older woman who was obviously the bartender yelled with a big smile.

"Hey Chris, how's it going?"

"Oh you know, same old same old. Who's your friends?" Chris asked giving Hotch and Rossi a once over.

"This is Agent Hotchner and Agent Rossi with the FBI. They're here about Wyatt," Kahlan told her as she indicated the agents. "This is Christina, she manages the bar." Hotch noticed that the other two people in the bar had stopped talking and was watching them.

Hotch and Rossi both shook her hand across the old wood bar. "Chris, please, and thank God! I'm glad you finally found someone to believe you Kay," Chris told her sincerely.

Kahlan sat down on one of the stools, so Rossi and Hotch sat down beside her.

"You here to find Wyatt?" a mountain of a man asked them from at the end of the bar. Hotch noticed his hands where about as big as a plate.

"Yes. We are here investigating the abduction of Wyatt and several other boys," Rossi told him with a smile.

"Bout time," is all the man said and then took a drink of his beer.

"There's no reason to be rude, Kevin. They are here and that's what matters," the bartender told him. "What can I get you all?"

"I'll take an Ultra, but I think these gentlemen want to try a burger," Kahlan told the woman.

Chris smiled. "Bacon and cheese?" she asked them.

Rossi couldn't help himself, he smiled back at the pleasant woman. "Please." Hotch nodded.

She walked down to the end of the bar where a little flat top grill was waiting and placed two burgers on it from out a cooler. "You want the works on them?" she called from where she was standing.

"Mayo, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup," Kahlan explained.

"Sure," Rossi told her.

While the burgers cooked she came back and looked at the two men. "Let me guess, scotch?"

Rossi's brows raised in surprise. "How did you know?"

Kahlan laughed. "Chris has a gift of knowing what people drink."

"I believe it," Rossi told her honestly.

Chris smiled at him and turned around to pour the drinks. "It sure is good to hear you laugh again, Kay" she handed the tumblers to Rossi and Hotch. "Woman's been miserable ever since Wyatt went missing. Thank you for coming to help."

Rossi just smiled at the woman and took a sip of his scotch. Hotch swirled his around in his glass.

"That was the worst day this town has seen in my lifetime," Chris explained.

"I can imagine," Rossi told her.

"When we first heard that Wyatt was missing the whole town came out to help look for him," Chris told them.

Kahlan nodded and took a long drink of her beer. "It took all morning to realize he was actually missing," Kahlan confessed.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked her.

"Well, he was supposed to be out playing with his friends. By the time I searched all of the places I could think he might be and called every one of his friends, it was after two in the afternoon."

"That's when we all decided it was time to actually search the town and surrounding areas," Chris continued the story. "We didn't leave a stone unturned. He just disappeared."

"That's when I finally called the Sheriff."

"Not one person saw anything?" Rossi asked the bartender as she walked back to flip their burgers.

"The combiners were in town. We searched all of their places, and a few people thought they had seen a couple of strange trucks, but nobody knew for sure," she told them as she prepared the buns.

"Kahlan told us how she thought it might have been one of the harvest workers," Rossi told her.

"Yeah, her and Collin's brothers tracked every one of them down. They're not normally that bad. They work all day then come in here and drink for a few hours. Then they sleep for a couple hours and do the whole thing again the next day for a couple months. Every now and then we get a bad one, but they usually get ran out of town before they get a chance to do anything really bad," Chris told then as she put the burgers down for the men.

Hotch didn't want to know what 'ran out of town' meant. "Where do they stay while they are here?"

"They bring travel trailers or they rent the couple of places that are available here in town. And we searched every one of them," Kevin put in from the end of the bar.

_Small town mentality. Well, I guess, that exceeds the need for search warrants,_ Hotch thought as he took a bite of his burger. "This is very good. Thank you, Chris."

She beamed at the complement. "Told them they were decent," Kahlan said with a smile at the older woman.

"Decent? More like the best in town!" she exclaimed. They all laughed at that.

The man who was sitting next to Kevin got up and approached Kahlan and the agents. "Brad," Kahlan nodded to him. Hotch and Rossi turned around to look at the man.

"You're really with the FBI?" Brad asked them. Both agents instantly disliked the man.

"Yes, can I help you?" Hotch asked him as he stood up. He stood over the man by about six inches. Rossi noticed Hotch was using a glare that he normally reserved for unsubs. Brad took a step back completely intimidated. Rossi had to hide his smile, but Brad was focused on Hotch.

"I just never thought anyone would come here to help find some boy."

"It's not just 'some boy'. He is this woman's son. His name is Wyatt, in case you have forgotten," Hotch told him with a smile that was anything but friendly. Kahlan sat there wide-eyed, shocked at the way Hotch was acting.

"Yeah, well, I hope you help her find him," he told them and left the bar.

As soon as the door shut, Kahlan, Chris, and Kevin busted out laughing. "Friend of yours?" Rossi asked as Hotch went back to his burger.

"No," she said quickly as Chris and Kevin kept laughing.

"Who was he?" Rossi asked Chris once she stopped laughing.

"Brad is one of the wealthiest farmers around here. He's a real ass, too. Thinks he's better than everyone else," Chris explained. "That was great, though," she told Hotch.

Hotch just shook his head.

They got done eating and shared a little small talk with Chris and Kevin. They had another drink then headed back to Kahlan's house. She quickly got the guest room and couch ready for them. "I'm going to bed. You're welcome to do whatever you want. Remote's by the TV," Rossi was getting ready to say something, when she added, "I have a dish." Then she went to her room and left the agents alone.

"I'll take the couch," Hotch offered.

Rossi went to the kitchen and looked for a mug in her cabinets. "Does she ever eat?" Rossi asked as he realized her cupboards were as empty as her refrigerator. He finally found a mug and poured himself some coffee.

"Maybe she's been out of town for a while. I'll have to see if Garcia knows," Hotch told him as he walked down the hall and opened the first door he came to. He had seen her go into the last door. "Dave," Hotch called for him quietly as he stood in the doorway.

Rossi came up behind him and looked into the room. Wyatt's room apparently. Everything was just as the boy had left it. The bed wasn't made, but they could tell the sheets had been cleaned. Toys laid scattered on the floor, but vacuum marks under them told Rossi that they had been picked up as the floor was cleaned and put back down in the same position. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere in the room. The boy's night light was even still on. "She still expects him to come home," Rossi said aloud.

Hotch shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's probably cleaned this room at least once a week the whole time he's been gone." He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose as he considered the room in front of him. He could tell the boy had been spoiled by the amount of things in the room, but everything looked well taken care of, so he didn't think that Wyatt was spoiled to the point of being a brat. He walked over and picked up the only stuff animal on the bed. It was an elephant that looked to be as old as the boy.

"That's Daddy Lump," Kahlan said from the doorway. Hotch and Rossi turned as one, they hadn't heard her leave her room. She walked up to Hotch and held her hand out for the elephant.

"Daddy Lump?" Hotch asked as he handed the stuffed animal to her.

"That's what Wyatt started calling it after Collin died." She put it down on the bed tenderly. "I bought it for him before he was ever born. He slept with it every night." She quickly wiped her face and turned back to face them. Rossi noticed her face showed no emotion, but it was obvious that she had shed a tear. "Did you want to check out the rest of the house now, too?"

"I was looking for the restroom," Hotch told her. Rossi noticed that a little of the anger that had been in Hotch's voice every time he talked to her was gone.

"It's the next door down. Guest room is the one after it. I was wondering if you needed me to set an alarm."

"No, I will set one on my phone," Hotch told her as he left the boy's room.

Rossi followed him back into the family room. Kahlan shut the door and went back to her room. Hotch grabbed his bag and went to the restroom to get ready for bed.

Rossi sat on the couch and drank his coffee. Hotch emerged in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He sat down next to Rossi. "It's started snowing," Hotch told him.

Rossi looked at the window, but it was too dark to see anything. "I don't think we would get anything else form this town anyway," Rossi told him and took a drink of his coffee.

Hotch nodded his agreement. He had a feeling that none of the towns where going to be of much help in trying to build a profile.

"That bartender was nice," Rossi mused.

"Somehow I don't think she would have been as nice had we went up there without Kahlan."

"Probably not," Rossi quipped as he got up and put the mug on the table. He grabbed his bag and turned off the kitchen light. "I'll see you in the morning," he patted Hotch's shoulder as he walked past him to the guest room.

"Yep," Hotch told him as he laid down on the couch. He smiled as he realized it was actually long enough for him. He reached up and turned off the light on the end table.


	5. Chapter 5

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 5**

Hotch turned over on the couch again. He couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about Jack. Where was he? Was he scared? Was Jessica with him, or were they all separated? He sat up and fought the urge to get up and go to Kahlan and demand to know where his son was. She wouldn't tell him, and he worried that if he pissed her off, that she would make a call and then his son would pay for his anger. Somebody had to be with them. She wouldn't have just left them locked up somewhere, not without food and water. Would she? Did she leave them alone, but give them a ration of supplies? Would they run out before they solved this case? He shook his head angrily and got up to get a glass of water. He searched the cabinets for a glass. He finally found one, and went to the sink. The water was surprisingly cold and felt good to his dry throat.

He put the glass on the island and stood there listening to the wind. Kahlan had been correct about the weather. Kahlan. The profiler in him was starting to feel empathy for her, but the father in him wanted to still strangle her. He worried what she was capable of. She was capable of kidnapping, so what else was she capable of? How did she even get Jessica to cooperate and pick up Jack at his school? Even if she threatened Jessica, he didn't think that Jessica would knowing put Jack in danger. What ruse did she use? And how did she get Will and Henry? Will was a cop for Christ's sake. She would have never have been able to surprise the man. Will was so always so vigilant with Henry. Hotch paced back on forth in the kitchen as he pondered what Kahlan had done to get to two boys who were protected so well. It bothered him that some regular woman could come up with a plan that had apparently worked easily. Maybe it wasn't easy. Maybe something had gone wrong. _Don't think that!_

Would Kahlan still go through with her plan if something had gone wrong? He knew he would do anything to get his son back, so maybe she was just doing the same. He could understand her desperation, but he would never put someone else's child in danger to find his own. Would she? Would any mother put another child in danger to save her own? Hotch shook his head. Maybe after three years he, too, would resort to drastic measures. He found himself getting angry at all of the people who had failed to help Kahlan and her son. At the top of his list was Davidson, the FBI agent who had the chance to take the case but failed. Hotch was sure he could get rid of the man. He knew most of the supervisors in the building, and even if he couldn't get him fired, he was sure he could get him reassigned to someplace horrible where he wouldn't be in charge of anything important.

He looked at his watch, 4:30. He went back to the couch. Maybe he could get a little sleep before he had to start the day. He laid there listening to the wind, and then he thought he heard something else. He tried to focus his hearing on the inside of the house. He wouldn't bet his life on it, but he thought Kahlan had cried out in her sleep. Seemed like he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping, and he wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse. He pressed the palm of his hands into his eyes, trying to will himself to sleep. Eventually, he drifted off.

XXX

Hotch's alarm went off, and his first thought was to throw the phone against the nearest wall. He stopped himself of course. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He felt that he was being watched and his head snapped toward the kitchen.

"Morning," Kahlan told him from the island in the kitchen. She was drinking a cup of coffee and watching him.

Hotch got up and walked to the guest room to wake up Rossi and then went to the restroom to get dressed.

Rossi came out of the bedroom dressed and looked rested. He couldn't say the same for the woman at the island.

"Coffee?" Kahlan asked him but didn't wait for the answer as she turned to fill another mug. She scooted the mug to him and sat down again.

"How's the weather?" Rossi asked her as he saw her wet boots.

"Not as bad as it could be. I think you guys could actually get whatever it is that you want to do done."

"We were actually considering heading to Nebraska." She smiled at that. Rossi could tell she wanted to get things moving.

"If you wanted to head north we wouldn't be able to, the snow is worse up there, but south is good," she told him as she went to her room.

Hotch emerged from the restroom wearing a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue v-neck long sleeve shirt. He joined Rossi in the kitchen. "Where's Kahlan?"

Rossi poured his friend a cup of coffee. "Getting ready to go to Nebraska."

Hotch looked at the window. It was snowing, but the wind had all but disappeared. Hotch accepted the coffee with a nod of thanks. "She was up and moving around the kitchen and didn't even hear her," Hotch told him clearly upset about it. _Maybe she could have surprised Will._

"How'd you sleep?"

"I didn't until about five."

"So you think that two hours sleep is supposed to keep you on the top of your game?" Rossi asked with raised eyebrows.

Kahlan emerged from her room carrying her bag. "Chadron is only about four hours away. If we leave now, you have plenty of time to interview and check out the town." She put her bag by the door, and went back to her coffee.

"I want to check in with the team," Hotch told them and headed to the guest room for some privacy.

Hotch dialed Garcia first. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten me, sir," Garcia told them as she answered the call.

"Has she made any calls on her phone?"

"No sir, sorry. And before you ask, I ran all of her husband's family. They are all present and accounted for in Reliance. I have checked her financials and the little life insurance she received when her husband died, has dwindled down to almost nothing. She had done a lot of traveling back and forth between all of the states and here."

"What was the longest time she spent in Virginia?"

He could hear her typing. "Ummm. Looks like the longest stay was two days when she met with Agent Davidson."

_How did she find where we live if all she ever stayed was two days?_ "What about her family? Where do they live?"

"That will take a little time, but I will get back to you as soon as I know. How are things going there?"

"We're heading to Nebraska."

"Is Reliance as small as she made it sound?"

"Smaller," and he hung up on her and dialed Morgan.

"Hey Hotch," Morgan said from across state lines.

"How's it going?"

"It's not. Damn snow has us stranded in Bowman. The locals think the snow will let up enough tomorrow. The Crockett's believed the same as Kahlan about the harvesters."

"We're headed to Nebraska in a bit. You get a look at the postcard?"

"Yeah. Devin's mom swears it is his writing, but the language wasn't his. Definitely not a seven year olds thinking."

"How was the boy's room?"

"Like a tomb. I don't think anyone has been in it since the abduction."

"Alright, so no leads?"

"None. You?"

"None. Keep me posted," Hotch told him and then dialed Reid.

"Reid," answered without looking at his caller ID.

"Hey, you guys getting anywhere?"

"Hey, Hotch. JJ is with the family now, but I've interviewed the local police. They actually have a partial plate. A witness saw a truck with Wyoming plates, but could only remember the first two numbers. I am having Garcia run it anyway. We should be able to get to Kaysville this afternoon."

"How is JJ doing?"

"Ok, I guess. She didn't sleep well last night, but that is expected."

"Yeah. Keep me updated."

"Sure thing."

**XXXXX**

"Chris, go get Mike," an older woman told the young teen.

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered, got up from the table, pushed his chair in, and left the house.

Three other boys sat at the table and ate in silence. An older man came into the room and all of the boys stopped eating. "Tommy, you and Wyatt need to check the fence in the south pasture."

"Yes, sir," Tommy told him as he and Wyatt picked up their plates and scraped them into the trash. Neither boy had finished eating. They put their plates into the sink and left the house.

"Josh, you need to feed the animals, and you best not make a mess of my barn this time!" the man yelled. Josh flinched, but got up to take care of his plate and left.

Chris showed back up with Mike. The younger boy was dirty and had been crying. He stood there before the couple, looking at the floor. "Get upstairs and get yourself and your bed cleaned up," the woman told him.

"Yes, Ma'am," he told her and went upstairs.

"Chris," The man stood up. "I want you to help me work with the new boy this morning."

"Yes, sir," Chris said with a smile.

**XXXXX**

Half way to Chadron, Hotch stopped for breakfast, the restroom, and gas. A little truck stop café made the perfect place for all three items. Hotch gassed up the SUV and Rossi went in to grab them a table. Hotch noticed Kahlan standing by the doors for a few minutes. She pulled the bottle of pills out of her pocket, and Hotch watched her sort several of them into her hand. He didn't think any of them were actually Tylenol. _What the hell is she taking? _He wondered and made a mental note to have Garcia check her medical records. Right as she was about to take the pills, a woman screamed her son's name. A little boy had gotten out of a car and started running toward the store. Kahlan saw a truck coming around the pumps. Hotch couldn't get around his vehicle in time, but Kahlan ran out in front of the truck, scooped up the little boy, and fell with the boy in her arms out of the way of the truck.

The hysterical mother ran to her son. "Oh God. Thank you!" she told Kahlan as she took the boy from her arms.

"No problem," Kahlan told her as she got up.

Hotch came up to woman and looked the boy over. He didn't even have one speck of dirt on him. "Are you ok?" he asked the boy. The boy nodded.

The driver of the truck ran up apologizing the whole way. "It's ok. He's fine," Kahlan told the man.

"Are you alright?" Hotch asked Kahlan.

"A little wet, but fine," she told him as she started brushing herself off. Her legs and her back were covered in mud and snow. "I think I'll go change," she told them as she headed back to the SUV to get her bag.

The truck driver apologized again to Kahlan and the woman and her son and went back to his truck. Hotch finished gassing up the SUV as Kahlan went inside to change.

Rossi saw Kahlan and immediately got worried. "What happened?" He pictured an argument between Hotch and Kahlan, and Kahlan ending up on the ground. _No, Hotch would never hit her, would he?_

"I slipped on some stupid ice. I'm gonna change. These pants are too wet and cold now," she told him with a smile and went into the restroom.

Hotch pulled the SUV away from the pumps and into a parking space by the restaurant. Hotch went inside to find Rossi as Kahlan went out to put her bag back in the SUV.

"Did you see that?" Hotch asked Rossi.

"What? Her slip on the ice?" Rossi asked confused.

"She said she slipped?" Hotch asked clearly surprised.

"And that's not what happened?" Rossi asked eyeing his friend worriedly.

Hotch was about to answer when he noticed Kahlan come into the restaurant, so he gave Rossi a look that told him he would tell him later. Kahlan sat down in the chair between the two agents. A waitress came up and asked them what they wanted to drink. The guys ordered coffee and Kahlan ordered a hot tea.

When the waitress brought them their drinks, she took their food order. Hotch ordered an omelet, Rossi ordered eggs and bacon, and Kahlan only an order of toast. Rossi looked at her with furrowed brows. "Ok, we've been with for almost forty-eight hours straight, and I haven't seen you eat anything yet. What's up with that?"

"Really? You're how old and you haven't learned that you should never ask a woman about her eating habits?" Kahlan dismissed his question with a laugh.

"You think I'm old?" He asked her with a feigned look of hurt.

She shook her head. Hotch studied her a little more closely. _Pills, not eating, clothes a little baggy, is she sick?_ He wondered as she laughed at Rossi.

"No, not old, but old enough to know better. How many times have you been married?" She asked him.

"What makes you think I've been married?" He looked at Hotch. Hotch just shrugged.

"Oh, please! Someone like you, let me guess. Two? Three?"

Hotch actually laughed. Rossi looked wounded. "Someone like me? What do you mean?"

"Italian gentleman. A lady's man. Probably a hopeless romantic, too. You charm women without even meaning to."

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Are you sure you're not a profiler?"

Kahlan laughed. "A compliment, I assure you."

Breakfast came and went and they were back on the road and to Chadron within a couple hours.

Kahlan lead them up to the home Kyle Redman. She introduced the agents to Susan and Mark, Kyle's parents. Susan started crying as she thanked the agents profusely for helping to find her son. Kahlan took Susan into the kitchen and let the agents talk with Mark.

"Mr. Redman, we have talked with Mrs. Hunter, and we know Kyle was abducted in the fall. Can you remember anything go on in town at the time?" Rossi asked him as he led them into the living room.

"Yeah. Chadron always has the Harvest Festival the first week in November. Town fills up with people from all over the state."

"Do you remember anyone sticking out? Anyone you might have noticed hanging around?" Hotch asked him.

"You know, I do remember talking to my brother about seeing a few out of state plates parked along main street. The Festival normally doesn't bring in people from out of state."

"Do you remember which states?" Hotch urged him on.

"I remember one from California. Never seen one of them in Chadron before."

"Any others?"

"One from South Dakota, a couple from Wyoming, I think."

The interview went on for a little while longer once Mrs. Redman collected herself. Hotch was back in the driver's seat and they were on their way to Colorado.

**XXXXX**

"What's wrong, Jack?" Jessica asked him as she noticed his mood darkening.

"I want to see Daddy. When can I see him again?"

"I know, Buddy, but I honestly don't know when we'll see your daddy again."

"Jack! Come play with me!" Henry yelled from the other room. Jack got up and went into the next room to play with the younger boy.

"I don't blame him," Jessica said.

"I know. I'm going crazy being locked up like this!" Will said as he looked at Jessica. He got up and paced around the room.


	6. Chapter 6

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 6**

After his third yawn in the first hour, Rossi told Hotch to pull over so he could drive. Once they were stopped, Hotch got out and stretched. "You want the back so you can lie down?" Kahlan asked him.

"Sure, thank you." He told her as they all traded seats like they were practicing a Chinese fire drill. Hotch reclined his seat and noticed that Kahlan's bag was awfully close to his head.

"Do you mind?" Kahlan asked Rossi as she put her hand up to the radio.

"Go ahead," He told her with a smile and she turned it on. Static, so she hit the search button. The only station available was a farm news channel. Rossi looked at her. "No."

She chuckled and turned around in her seat. "Would you be so kind as to hand me my iPod out of the little pocket on the side of my bag?" she asked Hotch.

Hotch rolled onto his side, unzipped the pocket and felt for her iPod. He noticed the bottle of pills was also in the pocket. He grabbed the iPod and handed it to her. She thanked him and plugged it into the radio.

"You not going to try to kill me with anything horrible on that thing are you?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"I have a little bit of everything on here, but if you don't like a song, just tell me and I'll skip it."

Hotch watched her from the back seat. Under the cover of the music, he stealthfully removed the bottle of pills and opened it. There were several different pills in the bottle. Some he recognized as some sort of supplements, but some of the others were definitely prescriptions. He put the bottle back and pulled out his phone. He texted Garcia and told her to look and see if she could find any medical records for Kahlan. Garcia said she would and then gave him an update on the woman's family members. She had three older sisters, all living in Virginia. Garcia had tracked them down, but none of them seemed to have anything to do with Jack and them missing. She promised to keep looking, though. He put his phone away and leaned his head back to rest.

The next thing he knew, they were pulling into Bellvue. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and realized the town was about the same as Chadron. While they were huge compared to Reliance, but the town only had a population of about four thousand. Kahlan directed Rossi to the Jenkins' residence. Their son Michael was the second to the last boy to go missing, but it was still over a year ago. Kahlan introduced them, but there wasn't a warm reception or even a 'thanks' from the parents. Hotch noticed six kids around the house and he gauged their ages between fifteen and two. They also found out that Michaels's stuff, the little amount that wasn't taken by the other kids, had been boxed up and stored away because they needed the room. By the time they left, Hotch had the feeling the parents didn't even miss their lost son, and that made him extremely angry. Kahlan had warned them that the family was a little 'off', but Hotch could have killed the boy's father. How could anyone not care about a missing child? Jack was missing and Hotch was doing everything he could to find him, and yet this asshole didn't even care. Rossi got them quickly out of there as soon as he noticed Hotch's mood turn away from professional.

Kahlan slammed the back door as she got into the vehicle. Apparently Hotch wasn't the only one pissed off. Once they were on the road, Hotch noticed that tears were falling down Kahlan's cheeks as she kept clenching and unclenching her teeth. Hotch hit Rossi on the leg and nodded to her in the back seat.

Rossi turned around to look at her.

"I swear, when I talked to them about Mike, they were not like that," she told him as she stared out the window.

"When did you see them?" Rossi asked in a gentle voice.

"About a month after it happened."

"A lot of things change in a year."

"They don't care about their son! I don't even think those sons of bitches even love the kids they still have!" She finally looked at him. "How can they keep having kids if they don't even love the ones they already have?"

Rossi knew the tears were for the missing boy, not for the parents. "I don't know. I really don't," Rossi told her truthfully.

She wiped her eyes, and took an angry breath. "When you all find them, will he have to go back to them?"

Hotch noticed she didn't say 'if'. He also didn't like the way she assumed they were alive. Not that there was anything wrong with her having hope, he just wasn't sure if they didn't find them alive how it would affect Jack.

"They are still his parents," Rossi told her. He understood her anger, though, and made a mental note to have Garcia check to see if there had been any reports against them.

She shook her head. "Where to now?"

"Our next stop is Salt Lake, but we'll stop for the night on the way," Rossi told her.

She reclined her seat and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep.

Hotch studied her in the rear-view mirror. He watched her breathing, and when he was sure she was asleep he turned to Rossi. "Check on the team to see where they are. It would be nice for all of us to be able to meet up at the Salt Lake office."

Rossi took out his phone and called Morgan.

XXX

Hotch pulled into a hotel by Rawlings, WY. Rossi turned around to wake up Kahlan. She had slept since they left Bellvue and she had murmured and cried out in her sleep a few times. Rossi could have sworn that she had called out for her son once, too. He reached back and shook her leg. She instantly grabbed his hand and twisted it causing severe pain but not doing any damage.

"Hey!" Rossi yelled as he almost went over the seat.

She finally realized what she was doing and quickly let go. "I am so sorry," she told him wide eyed.

Rossi rubbed his wrist and gave Hotch a quick glance. "It's alright. I didn't mean to startle you."

She ran a hand through her hair and then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Where are we?" She asked as she looked out the window.

"Rawlings. We're going to stop for the night," Hotch told her. "We'll get our rooms and then go grab a bite to eat."

She quickly got out of the vehicle and grabbed her bag. Hotch gave Rossi another look and then they also got out and got their bags. Kahlan was already walking toward the hotel office. It was a little hotel, where all of the rooms had an outside entrance. "What the hell was that?" Hotch asked Rossi as they slowly walked to the office.

"I have no idea, but I think our Mrs. Hunter may be a lot more than she seems."

"You think? The average house wife doesn't know a move like that."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that would have brought me to my knees had I been standing."

They both looked at each other and continued into the office in silence. Kahlan already got a room for herself, and Hotch wasn't sure that was a good idea, but he didn't want to talk about it in the office. Rossi went ahead and got a room for him and Hotch to share. The office attendant smiled at him and Hotch. "Enjoy your night," she told them with another smile as they left the office. Kahlan laughed.

Hotch looked back to the woman through the office windows. She was still smiling. He looked back to Kahlan. "What?"

"Really?" Kahlan asked with raised brows as she glanced back into the office and laughed again.

"What?" Rossi asked clearly not getting it either.

"Come on." She looked at the two agents and shook her head. "Nothing."

"Ut-uh. Out with it." Rossi told her as they walked to their rooms.

"She thought you two were a couple," she told them laughing again.

Hotch shot Rossi a horrified look. "No way," he denied it.

Rossi looked back toward the office. "Oh Aaron, don't deny your love for me," Rossi joked with him as Hotch opened the door to the room.

Hotch rolled his eyes at him, threw his bag into the room, and started walking back to the SUV. "I'm going to move the vehicle." Rossi and Kahlan both laughed again.

Kahlan opened up the room next to theirs and went in it still laughing.

Hotch got back into the room. "You think we should let her stay in there alone?" Hotch asked Rossi nodding toward the room next door.

"Where she going to go?" Rossi asked as he sat on one of the beds.

Hotch looked at the wall as if trying to see through it. He shook his head. "I just don't like the idea of not knowing what she's up to." Hotch took out his phone and texted Garcia to tell her to keep an eye on the hotel phones.

"You want to go eat now?" Rossi asked him before he took off his coat.

"I'll go check with her," Hotch told him going out the door and knocking on Kahlan's. Kahlan answered the door with what Hotch assumed were her pajamas in her hand. "You don't want to go eat?"

"No thanks. I'm going to take a hot bath and try to go back to sleep, if that's alright." Hotch studied her face. She did look exhausted and maybe in a little pain. "I promise, I won't go anywhere."

"Alright. We'll be back in about an hour."

"I'll be here," she told him with a small smile and shut the door.

Hotch heard the lock and went back to Rossi. Against his better judgment, they went to the restaurant without her. As they sat there waiting for their food, Hotch found himself trying to figure out Kahlan again. The only thing he knew for sure about the woman is that her son was missing. Everything else about her was definitely in shadow.

"So what happened at the gas station?" Rossi asked, pulling Hotch out of his thoughts.

Hotch raised his brows, he had forgotten that Rossi still didn't know. "She said she slipped and fell?"

Rossi nodded. "I thought maybe you two got in an argument, but after that move in the SUV, I don't think it would have been Kahlan on the ground had that happened."

Hotch gave him a look of shock but smiled. "I don't know about that." He took a drink of his soda and leaned in closer. "She dived in front of a moving pickup to save a little boy." Hotch told him.

Rossi knew from Hotch's tone that Hotch was impressed. He raised his brows in surprise. "Really? Since you were impressed I would assume that the boy would surly have been hit."

Hotch nodded. "She's quick."

Their food arrived and they started eating in silence, both of them trying to figure out what it all meant. Once he was finished, Hotch took out his phone, called Garcia, and put it on speaker.

"Command me, my liege."

"Any medical records?"

"Yes sir, but nothing for a while. Last thing I found was a routine physical two years ago. May I asked what you're trying to find, sir?"

"She has prescription pills, and I want to know what they are for."

"I haven't found any prescriptions except for an antibiotic four years ago for a sinus infection."

"I want you to dig deeper, Garcia. There is something in this woman's background, and we need to find it."

"Something like what?"

"I don't know, but I think she had some sort of training."

"Training? Ohhh, you think she's a spy or something?" Garcia's voice rose an octave. "If that's true, though, what does that mean for. . ." she didn't finish the thought, but Hotch knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Just find me something, Garcia," he told her and hung up.

Rossi looked at him. "You really think she's actually a spy?"

"No, but she's had some sort of training. It wouldn't make sense for her to be a spy."

Rossi nodded. "If she was, she wouldn't need our help to find her son."

Hotch got up and put on his coat. Rossi went to pay the check, and they walked back to the hotel.

"Why don't you just ask her?" Rossi suggested.

"Like she'd talk to me," Hotch told him as they walked past the office. Hotch noticed the office attendant smiling at them again. Hotch groaned and Rossi laughed. Hotch opened their door.

"You won't know unless you try. She's seems a lot more open now."

"You think she'd tell me the truth?"

"It depends on what the truth is." Rossi said as he grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom. "I'm hitting the shower."

Hotch watched him go and looked at the wall joining their room with Kahlan's.


	7. Chapter 7

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 7**

Hotch woke up to his alarm. He had slept decently and actually felt rested. He was about to wake up Rossi when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door to find Kahlan. He shivered as soon as the cold air hit him, so he opened the door to let her in. She was holding a drink carrier with three cups in it.

"Morning," she told him as she set the drink carrier down on the little table. "Thought you guys might want a coffee." She smiled at him and then looked to Rossi's sleeping form in the far bed.

"Thank you. When did you get up?" Hotch asked her as he went to kick Rossi's bed. Rossi moaned and opened his eyes.

"I've been up since about 5:30." She turned grabbed one of the coffees and walked over to hand it to Rossi.

"Bless you child," he told her with a smile as he sat up to take the cup.

She returned the smile and then grabbed her own cup. "I'm ready when you all are," she told them and headed for the door. She went out it quickly and went to her own room.

Hotch sat at the table, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and took a drink of the coffee.

Rossi got out of the bed and joined Hotch at the table. "You know if she hadn't kidnapped part of our family, I would actually like her."

Hotch almost spit out his coffee and ended up choking and coughing on it. He shook his head as he gave Rossi a look.

"What? Don't tell me you don't feel the same way."

"Well, the whole kidnapping thing has stopped me from feeling that," Hotch told him sarcastically. "I'm going to get dressed." He grabbed his bag and went to the restroom.

It was Rossi's turn to shake his head.

About a half an hour later they were on their way. With a few hours they were pulling up to the FBI building in Salt Lake City. Garcia had called ahead to have them prepare a conference room, and had all of their files transferred there. A couple of the local agents were lined up to help if needed, too.

JJ and Reid were already in the room. They were setting up white boards like they had at Quantico. Hotch noticed they had a new board set up for the boys who had gone missing in the nineties. Under two of those boys' pictures there was a picture of a decimated corpse. DNA had matched two of the boys to John Does also found in the nineties. Hotch could tell by the bodies that the boys had died at a young age. Hotch noticed that Kahlan was focusing on the bodies, and before he could ask JJ and Reid for on update, Kahlan ran out of the room to the nearest trashcan and threw up. He went to stand beside her. Reid brought over a bottle of water and a paper towel. Hotch took them and nodded his thanks. JJ looked at her with a sad look, but went back to what she was doing.

Once he thought Kahlan was done he handed her the paper towel. She took it and wiped her mouth. "Thank you," she told him as she finally stood up. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"You don't have to apologize. I would have stopped you from seeing them if I had known they were there."

She looked at him, clearly embarrassed. "Restroom?" she asked as she looked around. Hotch looked around, too, pointed her to it, and gave her the bottle of water. She took it with another 'thanks' and went to the restroom.

Hotch noticed the paper towel crumpled up in her hand. _Is that blood?_ Hotch took a deep breath and headed back into the conference room. JJ and Reid gave him and Rossi the update on their time spent in Utah, and it accumulated in 56 possibles for the partial license plates that belong to white pick-up trucks. Local agents were running them all down, and so far they had found a couple promising ones. JJ had told them that her team would check those out personally.

Rossi was starting to get worried about Kahlan and was going to go search for her but found her at an empty desk outside the conference room. He walked up to her. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I just didn't think you all would want me in there in the way," she told him with a small smile.

Morgan and Blake showed up about an hour later. They gave everybody their update and added to the description of the unsub's vehicle. The Idaho police had a witness statement that said the white pick-up was a four door, but they had never had a plate to go with it. After checking the list of possibles, it narrowed it down to 26 and only one promising one. They speculated and theorized for another hour and then a local agent brought in lunch.

Hotch went and asked Kahlan if she wanted something. She chuckled weakly. "No, thank you. I don't think my stomach could handle anything right now." Hotch gave her a small smile. "Would you mind if I go outside and get some air?"

Hotch considered it for a moment. "I'll join you," he suggested. He thought she would object, but she didn't. She followed him through the building, but he stopped at an empty room. "I have to talk to you first." He led her into the room and shut the door. He looked at her a moment and thought she looked pale. He took a deep breath, and asked her, "What up with the pills?"

That caught her off guard and she studied him for a moment. "That's none of your business."

"Oh really? I think it is," Hotch told her forcefully. "I've seen the pills."

She gave him a shocked look. "How dare. . ."

"How dare I? Because you have my son, that's how I dare! I have every right to know what's wrong with you."

She shook her head and started to walk towards the door, but he stopped her by grabbing her arm. She jerked away from him, and he could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to do a lot more than that.

"You're taking a bunch of pills, you don't eat, and you just threw up blood. What am I supposed to think?"

"What, you think I'm going to die or something and you won't get your son back?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

She actually laughed.

"I don't see where any of this if funny," he told her seriously.

She took a deep breath. "I have an ulcer. I developed it about a month after Wyatt went missing. Stress makes it act up. Don't worry; I'm not going to die."

He took a deep breath. Her story did make sense, and since had pushed her that far he decided to keep pushing. "So the stress of losing your son has made you physically sick, and yet you continue to keep my son from me. You know how utterly devastating it feels to not know where your son is, but you choose to put me and JJ through it. I don't understand how you can do that," he told her though tears.

"Because I thought that it was the only way to get you to help me," she told him truthfully.

"And if I promised you I will still look for your son, would you let them go?"

She stared at him. She couldn't tell if he was serious or just trying to trick her.

"Seeing those dead boys upset you because you don't know what has happened to your son. Do you have any idea of the horrors I have witness? Don't you think I have imagined every damn one of them happening to my son?" Tears began to fall down his cheeks. "But I've come to realize that you won't hurt them."

"Oh really? How do you know that I won't hurt him?" She asked but Hotch could tell there wasn't any malice in her voice.

"Maybe because you cried when you realized there were other boys missing, too, maybe because you threw yourself in front of a truck to save that little boy, maybe because you hated that asshole Jenkins, and maybe because you threw up after seeing those dead boys. I think it's obvious."

She just stood there searching his face.

He took another deep breath. "Please tell me where Jack is." He pleaded. It had been too long since he had seen or talked to his son, and he didn't think he could take it anymore. "You know how it feels to not be able to see your son, to not be able to hold him, to not be able to tell him you love him." His lip quivered as his heart pounded in his chest. "God! Please tell me where he is." Through his own tears, he could see she had teared up, too.

She couldn't handle seeing him in pain, especially since she knew she was the cause. She could handle his anger earlier, but his pain was more than she could take. She knew he was a strong man, and to see him break down, it cut right through to her heart. "Go," she cried. "Go home and go to your son."

"What?" Hotch asked confused.

"Go home. They will be there before you get back." She started to turn away.

He grabbed her arm, and turned her around. "Where are they?"

She looked him in the eyes and gave him a small smile. "You were right. I could never hurt them. I didn't want to do what I did, but I honestly felt like I didn't have a choice. They don't even know they were kidnapped."

"What? How could they not know?" He shook his head not understanding.

"I approached Jessica and Will with this." She took something out of her coat pocket and handed it to him.

He took the leather wallet from her and opened it up. Staring out of the wallet was a picture of Kahlan in a perfect forgery of an FBI ID. He was starting to understand.

"I told them that your team had come across an unsub who threatened your families, and that they had to go into protective custody to be safe until you all caught him. They got the boys and some stuff and have been in a hotel since. Two associates of mine have been there to guard them to keep up the charade. They haven't been scared, not once, and Will and Jessica never even questioned it."

Hotch didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had wondered what she had done to get through Will and Jessica. It was the perfect plan. She had used his own job against him. "So you could call them right now, and I could talk to Jack?"

She pulled a phone out of her pocket. Hotch noticed it wasn't the phone she had been using around them. "You want me to dial it now?"

"You never planned on hurting them, even if we decided not to help you." It wasn't a question, he was stating the truth.

"No, but I had to make you think I would. I thought it was the only way to get you all to help me."

He was about ready to tell her that she could have just asked, but she had and she had been turned down several times. He didn't know what to say.

"And now you're going to arrest me, and I'm never going to find my son," she told him as she started crying.

"No."

She broke down even more as she thought he was agreeing with her.

"You're not going to be arrested, and we are not going to stop looking for your son," he told her as he took her by the shoulders.

She studied his face. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "You can't tell me don't want to run to your son, and throw me away and hide the key for putting you through it all."

"I am going to see my son tonight," he told her with a smile. "But you are going with us to end this charade officially so none of them realize what was actually happening."

She nodded, it was the least she could do to make sure she didn't cause any more damage.

"Then, as soon as we have an unsub narrowed down, we will fly back out here and find your son."

"Why? Why would you continue to help me after the pain I have put you through?"

"Because somebody has to, and you are in just as much pain. You have waited far too long and have been turned away by too many people. I will see this through."

She almost fell to her knees in relief as she realized he was being serious. "Are you sure your team will feel the same way? That Agent Jareau won't still want to kill me?"

"I will talk to them. There are good people, and I think that they will agree to help you, but if they choose not to, then I will do it by myself." He wiped his face, stood up straight, and looked her in the eyes. "I promise I will find out what has happened to your son. I cannot promise he will still be alive, because that isn't up to me, but I promise you will know one way or the other."

She couldn't help herself, she hugged him, and he hugged her back. It had been tearing her up inside to put them through the illusion that their sons were in danger, and now that it was over she felt relieved. She also felt hope because they were getting close to finding out about her own son. She had been waiting so long that she felt like she was never going to find out what had happened. She let him go. "I don't know how I will ever thank you for this."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something when this is all over," he told her with a small smile. "Stay here. I will go talk to my team." She nodded.

Hotch walked back into the conference room. They had finished eating and were back into the files. Rossi noticed him first, and he could tell Hotch had been crying. "Where's Kahlan?" Rossi asked with concern as Hotch closed the door. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"It's not the boys?" JJ asked getting upset.

"No, JJ, the boys are fine." She looked at him questioningly.

"I just had a talk with Kahlan. She said that she couldn't lie to us anymore. She told me what she did to get us to believe the boys were in danger," he started.

"To make us believe that they were in danger? They aren't in danger?"

Hotch proceeded to tell them about the elaborate charade Kahlan had used and about how she couldn't do it any longer. He thought JJ was going to faint when he told her they were going home to get them. She was still mad, but she told him she understood why Kahlan had done it. He finished telling them how he promised to see the case through, but he wouldn't hold it against them if they did not want to help.

"Please, like you could do it alone," Rossi joked with him letting him know he would help.

"I saw the report of what happened to those two boys," Reid said as he nodded to the dead boys. "Somebody has to put that monster away, so it might as well be us."

"You know I got your back, Hotch. Always," Morgan told him.

"Yeah, we can't back out now," Blake told him.

Hotch looked at JJ. She smiled. "If I get to go home and see Henry and Will tonight, I will do whatever is needed to make sure those other mothers get to find out what happened to their sons."

Hotch thanked them and went back to get Kahlan. He told her what he team had said, and she started crying again.

Within an hour, they were all on the jet and headed back to Virginia.


	8. Chapter 8

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 8**

Kahlan sat in the same seat she had used on the way to South Dakota. She could clearly see the change in the mood of the team. They were happy to be going home, and they were happy their family members weren't in any danger, but they were still discussing the case of the missing boys. Kahlan shook her head. She would have sworn once they had their own kids back that they would have given up on hers. She had never been more wrong. She didn't regret what she had done, hell it got them to take the case. She had tried to use normal means, but she couldn't get the help she needed. She thought now, though, that she should have just set up an appointment with Agent Hotchner. She realized that the man would have done something, even if had not taken the case personally. No, he would have taken the case. That's just the type of man he was. She found herself truly impressed by him. _Well, maybe a little more than impressed_.

Hotch sat next to Rossi and thought about Kahlan. He just couldn't get a handle on the woman. She had admitted to having medical problems, but Garcia couldn't find any medical records. She had all but immobilized Rossi with a flick of her hand, but she had nothing in her past to suggest she would know a move like that. She had a perfectly forged FBI ID, and that was not something that could just be made on a computer.She had said she had associates watching Jack and them, not friends, associates. What kind of associates could she have that would volunteer to guard two adults and two children? What had she told them to get them to do it? Garcia had told him she didn't have that much money in the bank, so she couldn't have paid them. What had bothered him the most, though, is what he had seen her eyes when she pulled away from him in Utah. He wasn't sure what he saw, but he was sure the flicker in her eyes was dangerous. On paper, she seemed like a normal widowed house wife, but Hotch knew she was anything but normal. Being one of best profilers in the country, Hotch prided himself on being able to read people, but he couldn't read this woman enough to fully understand her.

He had convinced her to give up Jack, and he was wondering if he could convince her to open up about who she really was. He looked at her and his breath hitched just slightly as he realized she was looking at him. Rossi saved him by asking him something. He didn't hear it, so he had to turn to ask him what he had said.

Kahlan watched Hotch for a few more seconds. He had caught her looking at him, and she felt her face blush. She bent down and took out her iPod and head phones. She put the headphones on and turned toward the window, still trying to figure the man out.

They landed without incident, and Hotch, JJ, and Kahlan took one SUV to the Residence Inn Marriot in Woodbridge, VA. The boys were only twenty minutes away from them the whole time. Hotch also knew that the Marriot was not a cheap hotel, and again, he knew there was more to her than what Garcia's computer told them.

"Remember, they have no idea that this wasn't real," Kahlan reminded them.

"What about the people watching them? Do they know the truth?" Hotch asked her.

"Not. . . exactly. They are real Marshalls who thought they were assigned to protect them," Kahlan said with a look at Hotch through the rear view mirror.

Hotch raised his eyebrows in surprise. _How the hell did she manage that?_ He would have to ask her about that later, too.

"And you're with the FBI?" JJ asked to make sure the story was straight.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kahlan told her with a grimace. "You can add 'impersonating a federal officer' to my list of crimes, but you have to wait to charge me until after you find out what happened to Wyatt." She knew Hotch had said he wasn't going to arrest her, but she was sure that only meant until after they solved the case.

Hotch pulled up to the front entrance and left the SUV blocking the entry way. He didn't care if the hotel liked it or not, he was there on official duty, well, official father duty. They made their way through the lobby, and when the man behind the desk started to ask them what they were doing. Hotch and JJ just held up their badges and kept walking. "What room?" he asked Kahlan.

"Suite 204."

They quickly ran up the stairs, but slowed as they approached the Marshall stationed in the hall. They didn't need to spook the man who thought he was protecting kids. Hotch noticed his hand go toward his pistol, but he stopped as soon as he saw Kahlan. "Agent Dunmire," the man smiled, but sent Hotch and JJ a quick worried glance.

"Mitch," she nodded to him. "This is SSA Hotchner and SSA Jareau. They are here to pick up their families."

Mitch smiled widely. "You caught the bastard, huh?"

"Yeah, finally," JJ told him with a smile.

"They'll be glad about that. I think they were all getting a little stir crazy," Mitch told them with another warm smile.

"I bet," Hotch told him returning the smile.

Mitch turned, unlocked the door, and opened it to allow them to enter. Hotch stepped in first and was followed by JJ. Kahlan stayed in the hall to tell Mitch that the protective detail was over and had him go home.

"DDAAADDDDDYYYY!" Jack yelled as soon as he saw who had come in the door. He quickly ran and slammed himself into his father's lags. After steadying himself, he picked Jack up and hugged him.

Henry ran just as quickly to JJ, but was too emotional to say anything. JJ scooped up her son and buried her head in his neck. Will, who had been watching TV with the boys, jumped up and added himself to the family hug.

Kahlan step out into the hall to get control of her emotions. Seeing the happy reunion made her miss her own son even more. It also made her feel even more guilty for having deceived the agents. She quickly wiped the tears away.

Jessica came out of one of the adjoining bedrooms. "Aaron?"

"Hey, Jess." Hotch told her as he walked up to her. "I am really sorry about all this." He looked at Will to include him in the apology.

"We understand. Believe me, we would rather be whisked away to a hotel for a few days, than be worried the whole time about someone getting to Jack or Henry," she told him with a smile.

"It's over, though, right?" Will asked JJ.

"Yes, you guys are free to go home," she told them.

"Yay! I'll go get my stuff," Jack said as he wiggled out of his father's arms and ran to the bedroom he and Jessica had been sharing.

They all quickly got everything packed up. Kahlan called Hotch over to the side as everybody else headed down the hallway. "I'll just stay here," Kahlan told him.

"What?"

"It's already paid for, and then I won't have to find someplace else."

Hotch studied her, again. He really couldn't come up with any reason why she shouldn't, but something in his gut didn't like it. "Alright. You better come get your bag," he told her and quickly caught up with Jack. Kahlan followed at a distance.

**XXXXX**

Wyatt struggled to carry a five gallon bucket of water into the barn. As he walked to the horse stalls, he tripped over his own feet and water splashed everywhere. Water got on the old man's boots, and before Wyatt could even apologize, the old man back-handed him onto the ground. A cut on his cheek started bleeding as his eye started swelling. "Now go fill it back up!" the old man yelled. Wyatt got up without a word and went back to the spicket to fill the bucket again.

The old man continued to the stall in the back. Damien Brant was balled up on the floor in the fetal position, asleep. "Wake up you stupid little bastard!" the old man said as he kicked the young boy.

Damien yelled and jumped to his feet. "I'm sorry, sir!"

"What's your name, boy?" the old man asked in a yell.

"Damian Brant, sir."

"What?" the old man back-handed him and he went flying to the back of the stall.

The boy started crying as he put his hand on the wounded side of his face. The old man bent down, grabbed the boy's hair, and brought him to a standing position in front of him. "What's your name?" he asked, his voiced more lethal.

He boy sucked in his bottom lip. "Damian Holt, sir!" he answered correctly and the old man smiled at him.

"That's right, boy, and don't you forget it again!"

**XXXXX**

The next day, Hotch walked into Garcia's office. "So what did you find on Mrs. Hunter?"

Garcia gave him a look that told him she was perplexed by what she found. "Nothing, but yet something at the same time, something is very strange." She started typing and bringing up documents.

"She was born in Colorado. Her dad was in the Army, so I can trace his movements and follow her as she grows up. They left Colorado and went to Alaska when she was still under a year old. Alaska to South Dakota, South Dakota to Virginia, several places in Virginia, then back to South Dakota when she was in fourth grade. . ."

"I don't think where she went to elementary really matters, Garcia."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"Just start with what you think is strange."

"Well, I can track her all through growing up. She actually graduated high school two years early. According to those records she has an IQ of 172. Wow, she's almost as smart as Reid." Hotch nodded; he could believe that. "I even found where she started college at Shepherd University in West Virginia, but she just disappears her junior year in 1992."

"What do you mean, disappears?"

"Seriously, just poof." She emphasized it by putting her hands together and separating them quickly. "I can't find anything else about her until she shows back up again in South Dakota in 2002."

"So for ten years, you have nothing on her?"

"No sir, and have checked every agency I can think of, and none of them have any record of a Kahlan Williams. She didn't become Kahlan Hunter until June of 2003."

"Did you by chance check for a passport or any international travel?"

"Really? You think you have to ask?" She smiled at him. "No record of a passport, so no record of travel."

"Could someone have erased what was there?"

"Erasing something normally leaves some sort of trace, and I didn't find any. If anything was erased, it was done by somebody way beyond my talent."

Hotch looked at her. If it impressed her, then it must have been good. "That has to be what it is, though, right?"

"I don't know, sir. It's like she stopped existing for those ten years."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. He was hoping that Garcia's searching would provide answers, not more questions.

"Could she have gone into one of the agencies under a different name?"

"Oh, my humble leader, why do you doubt me so?" She asked with a wounded look. "I checked all females who entered into the agencies within those years with her description."

"So, no connection between her and the Marshall service either?"

"Not that I could find. I'm sorry, sir."

"Alright. Thanks, Garcia." He left her and thought about going to Kahlan and confronting her about it right then and there, but decided against it. He decided instead to wait to visit her after work, and he was going to invite Rossi to go with him. Maybe they both could get her to open up.

XXX

Hotch knocked on the door to Kahlan's room. After a few moments, he knocked again a little harder.

"Maybe she's not here," Rossi said simply and turned to head back to the stairs.

"Yeah, but where is she and what is she doing?" Hotch asked as he followed Rossi.

"Well, she doesn't have Jack and them anymore, so why do you really care?"

"Just wondering. Don't tell me you're not at least a little bit curious."

"Curious about what she's doing, or curious about her?" Rossi asked him with raised brows. He wasn't sure, but he had the feeling Hotch was beginning to like Kahlan.

"Both, I guess." Hotch had told Rossi about what Garcia had found.

"You like her, don't you?" Rossi asked him with a smile as they left the hotel.

"What?" Hotch asked as if offended, but Rossi could tell he wasn't.

"Oh, come on Aaron. I can tell you're impressed by her."

"She's a puzzle I want to solve, but I don't know about 'impressed'," Hotch lied.

Rossi pulled out his phone. "Well, let's find out where she is," Rossi told him as he dialed.

Hotch stood by the door of the SUV and waited to see if Kahlan would answer. She did and Rossi was talking to her and looking around the parking lot. Within a couple minutes he ended the call. "So?"

"She's in the bar across the street," Rossi told him as he started walking toward it. Hotch caught up with him quickly. They crossed at the light and entered the bar to find Kahlan at a small table in the back. Hotch noticed two glasses of scotch waiting for them.

"Well, what brings you two gentlemen out this evening?" she asked them as they sat down. Rossi had told her on the phone that it didn't have anything to do with Wyatt, so she wasn't worried about getting bad news or anything. She was curious as to why they wanted to talk with her, though, if it wasn't about the case.

"We didn't want you to get too lonely being stuck in that hotel alone," Rossi told her with a smile. With the look Kahlan gave him, he knew she didn't believe him.

She smiled back at him, took a drink of her beer, and turned her attention to Hotch. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Hotch took a drink of his scotch. _This isn't going to be easy._


	9. Chapter 9

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 9**

"You need to clear up a couple of things for us," Hotch told her trying to sound as off-handed as he could.

Kahlan took another drink of her beer and studied both agents. After several moments she smiled. "Just a couple?"

Rossi laughed a little. Kahlan could apparently read Hotch better than Hoch could read her.

Hotch shot Rossi a quick glance. "Yeah, like how two Marshalls ended up thinking they were actually performing an assigned duty."

She took another drink and raised her brows. She leaned her head to the side a little as she bit her lip. "Someone owed me a favor."

"Well, that cleared that up," Hotch said sarcastically.

She smiled. "What? I answered truthfully."

Hotch shook his head and took another drink, and Rossi smiled. Hotch tried to figure out another question that she couldn't evade so easily. "Why are there ten years in your history were you don't exist?"

Rossi almost choked on his scotch with that. He shot Hotch a look.

"Well, let's just get right to the point, huh?" Kahlan asked him with raised brows. Hotch shrugged. "I could have sworn that was supposed to be taken care of," she mused and took another drink.

"Yeah? And who was supposed to do that?" Hotch asked with narrowed eyes.

"An old colleague of mine."

"And where would that colleague happen to work?"

"In Virginia," she said simply.

Rossi watched them like he was watching a tennis match, and he was sure Kahlan was winning.

Hotch took another drink and sat back in his seat. "Where exactly in Virginia?"

"Right now, I think he works in Langley."

Hotch raised his brows at that. Anyone who knew anything about Langley, knew that's where the CIA headquarters was located. Hotch didn't want to just come out and ask her if she had worked for the CIA. All of her answers so far had been too evasive, and he didn't think she would answer that directly either. "Have you ever traveled outside the US?" The CIA didn't operate within the US, at least, they weren't supposed to.

"I would assume you didn't find a passport on file."

"No."

"I would have to have a passport to travel out of the country."

"You didn't answer the question."

"Maybe it's on file in the ten years you seem to be missing," she told him with a smile and took another drink of her beer.

"Exactly what were you doing in those ten years?"

Rossi took a drink of his scotch. _And here we go._

"Oh, I don't know. A lot of things, I guess."

Hotch ran a hand down his face. He could tell she was enjoying this. He finally decided to just come out with it, so he leaned in closer to her. "Are you now, or have you ever been a spy?"

Rossi almost choked again obviously not expecting Hotch to be so blunt.

Kahlan laughed at Rossi, but asked him, "you ok?" Rossi just nodded.

"Are you going to answer the question?" Hotch asked her as he tried to read her face.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Hotch shook his head. _She's avoiding the question. That has to mean the answer is yes. _

She studied him for a moment keeping her eyes steady.

_Come on, move your eyes so I can tell if you're lying or not_, Hotch thought as he matched her stare.

"The word 'spy' is so archaic," she told him without moving her eyes.

Rossi laughed. He really was enjoying the verbal sparring match.

"Being a spy would mean that I have worked in other countries to try to gain their secrets, and I can honestly say I have never done that," she told him with a sly smile.

"Alright, spy was the wrong word. Let me go with 'agent'."

"So you're asking me if I am now or have ever been an agent?" She asked him with a little laugh.

"I guess I am." Hotch asked leaning back in his chair and emptying his scotch.

A waitress suddenly appeared with another round and an order of hot wings. Rossi emptied his glass and handed it to the waitress with a thank you.

Kahlan avoided answering the question as she grabbed a wing and started to eat it. She gestured to the wings, offering them some. Rossi took one with a laugh. He knew what Kahlan was doing. She exaggerated her chewing making Rossi laugh even harder. Hotch rolled his eyes and took a wing.

She took another drink and became serious again. "Which agency are you suspecting me of working for?"

"I don't know, that's what I am asking you," Hotch told her as he put the chicken bone on the side of the plate.

"I can tell you honestly, that I don't work for any of them," she told him with a serious look.

"Yeah, but what about 'worked' as in past tense?"

She wiped her hands on a napkin. Hotch could tell she was trying to figure out how to answer without actually answering.

"I can truthfully tell you that no agency's name has ever been on one of my paychecks," she told him with a smile apparently satisfied with the completely ambiguous answer.

Hotch shook his head. He felt like he questioning a slippery eel.

"Does it really matter what I did over ten years ago?"

"Yes, it does."

"Why?"

"I'm just trying to figure some things out."

"What is it you want to know specifically?"

"Where did you learn that move you used on Rossi?"

She smiled and looked at Rossi. "I am sorry about that."

"I'm fine, but I would like to know how you did it," Rossi told her.

"Maybe I'll have to teach you when this is all over. It would actually be benifical for your whole team to know," she told him seriously.

"Where did you learn it?" Hotch asked again.

"Maybe my dad taught me. He was in the army, as I'm sure you know."

"Why can't you just give me a straight answer?"

Kahlan lost all pretense of joking. With a serious look, she stared Hotch down. "You know what, I want you to really think about it, and make sure you truly want to know the answers, before you ask me again."

Hotch stared at her for a moment. Then he looked at Rossi. Rossi shrugged, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Just then a woman bumped into Hotch.

"Oh. I am sorry," she told him.

"That's fine," Hotch told her as he leaned out of the way.

The woman smiled at him, and winked as she swayed a little as she tried to take a drink of her cocktail but kissed the straw completely.

Kahlan rolled her eyes at the woman, but she was too interested in Hotch to get the hint. Rossi laughed at the younger man who was oblivious to the drunken woman's obvious advances.

"Come on honey, I can show you a better time over here," she told him as she pulled on his coat.

"No, thank you," Hotch told her as he tried to pull away from her and still be a gentleman. He looked pleadingly at Rossi.

"Oh come on, you'll have a better time with me," she told him as she tried to get close to his face.

Hotch leaned away from her, almost falling out of his chair.

"Well, I can give you a better time than that bitch," the woman said gesturing toward Kahlan.

The smile on Kahlan's face disappeared. "Excuse me?" she asked the woman quietly.

Hotch could tell by the look in her eyes that Kahlan wasn't going to let the insult slide, so he stood up and put himself in between the drunk woman and Kahlan. "Look, I think you better go," he told the woman as he tried to push her away for her own safety.

"What? She your wife or something?" the drunken woman asked.

Kahlan stood up quickly. Rossi jumped up, too, he wasn't sure what Kahlan would do to the woman. Kahlan shot Rossi a quick smile but stepped next to Hotch. She then put her arm around Hotch's waist, kissed his cheek, and leaned forward to face the woman. "Not yet, but he's still all mine." Kahlan told her with a smile. The woman finally looked at Kahlan, and even though Kahlan wore a smile, the drunken woman couldn't ignore the malice she saw in Kahlan's eyes. She finally moved away from Hotch and went back across the bar.

Kahlan let go of Hotch as she gave Rossi another smile. Rossi sat back down and returned her smile.

Hotch just looked at her, clearly puzzled by what she had just done. Kahlan and Rossi looked at each other and they both laughed.

After she stopped laughing, Kahlan finished her beer and stood up. "I better head to my room, before I get into trouble."

Hotch looked at Rossi. She hadn't answered any of his questions, not exactly. He knew, though, that was about all he was going to get.

Rossi stood up and smiled at her. "Yeah, it is getting pretty late for an old man like me."

"I never said you were old," Kahlan told him with a smile.

Hotch stood up, too. "We'll walk with you."

They all put on their coats. Kahlan put a five on the table for a tip and headed to the bar to pay the bill.


	10. Chapter 10

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 10**

The next day Hotch found himself thinking about Kahlan. He knew she was something like an agent. She didn't deny it, but yet he knew she was telling the truth with every answer she had given him. _Or at least she had enough control and training to make him think she was telling the truth_. He shook his head. Each quest to find an answer only revealed more questions. He was sure of one thing, though, and that was the fact that he wanted to find out as much about the woman as he could. _Why? Why do I even care?_ He shook his head again. He wasn't sure about the why, but he was sure he wanted to know.

His thoughts were interrupted as his phone rang. "Hotchner," he answered.

"Sir, you will not believe what information has appeared on Mrs. Hunter," Garcia told him from her lair.

"The ten years that were missing are no longer missing?"

"Wait. . . How did you know?"

"Let me guess, everything looks normal."

"Ok. Now you're scaring me, but you're right. Not one suspicious thing."

"I figured."

"It's all fake, though, right? I mean how could there be nothing and then the next day, everything?"

"There is probably some truth in it, but I would guess most of it is made up."

"Well, whoever has done it is scary good. There is not one trace of anything being manipulated."

"I bet."

"I'm sorry I couldn't find you any answers, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Garcia," he told her and hung up the phone.

Whoever Kahlan's contact was, must be pretty important and not to mention good. _That's how she knew where to find Jack and Henry. If the computer expert could erase ten years and then insert a phony ten years, he or she could probably hack into the FBI database without anyone ever knowing._ Hotch thought Garcia was one of the country's best hackers, and he knew she could perform miracles with computers; so he couldn't even fathom someone so good that Garcia couldn't detect him. Powerful allies meant that Kahlan was powerful, too. _Or was. _He shook his head again. _God knows._

Kahlan had told him to make sure he wanted the answers before he asked her again. _What did that mean? Had she done something horrible?_ He knew there was something dangerous about her, but he really didn't have a sense that she was a bad person, an evil person. He'd been face to face with enough unsubs to know evil when he saw it. He ran a hand across the back of his neck.

"Thinking about Kahlan?" Rossi asked with a smile from his doorway.

Hotch hadn't even realized Rossi was standing there. "Why would you think that?" he asked him as Rossi came in and sat down.

"Oh, I don't know. Who else would be frustrating you so much?"

Hotch looked at Rossi. "What are you getting at, Dave?"

"You like her don't you?"

"She's a likeable person, I guess."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Are you asking if I'm attracted to her?"

"Are you?"

"I am intrigued by her," he admitted.

"And the fact that she gorgeous doesn't hurt either," Rossi told him with a sly smile.

Hotch considered that. She was well built, not like a supermodel or anything, but he could definitely imagine the lithe muscles beneath her clothes. She had beautiful long, black hair, and her penetrating bright blue eyes added to the dangerous mystery about her. She had a beautiful face, but it showed the deep sadness he knew came from missing her son. Her face looked a little aged, and Hotch knew it had to have come from the last three years. Desperation, depression, misery, and worry had probably aged her more in those three years than they should have. She still didn't look forty, though. He shrugged, she was gorgeous, now that he thought about it; but it wasn't her looks that intrigued him so much. It was her intelligence, her personality, the mystery behind her that he was drawn to. It was like she was a puzzle that he wanted to solve. He smiled, and Rossi knew for sure he was right.

"She's attracted to you," Rossi told him with another smile.

"Yeah, right."

"You don't see it?"

"There's nothing to see. Damn, Dave, she wouldn't even attempt to answer my questions yesterday."

"True," Rossi told him with a nod. "But she also didn't like that woman hitting on you, yesterday."

"What?" Hotch asked with a shocked look. "She only did that to make the woman leave because she called Kahlan a bitch."

Rossi raised his brows. "She could have scared that woman off without claiming you to be _'all_' hers."

Hotch knew the truth of that. He had been afraid that Kahlan was going to kill the poor stupid woman. "I think you're just reading too much into it."

"I think you're not reading into it enough."

"You were just enjoying watching me struggle."

Rossi laughed. That was true, but he knew Hotch never thought of himself as attractive and never really got it when women flirted with him. He was too much of a gentleman to let himself think that a woman would want him. "Alright, next time she is around, keep track of how many times you find her looking at you." Hotch gave him a questioning look. "I haven't seen her stealing glances at anyone else on the team."

"Whatever," Hotch told him as he got up from his desk. "Do we have any new information on the possibles?" he asked him as he left his office with Rossi following him.

"Yes, I think Garcia has narrowed down the twenty six possibles to three."

Hotch raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Only three? That's great." They walked into the conference room to join the rest of the team.

XXX

By the time they sorted everything out, they all decided on going to Wyoming the next morning so they could oversee the raids on the three possible unsubs. Knowing it would probably take a few days to execute the raids and then a few more to actually process the unsub, they decided to take off early and go home to be fresh in the morning. Besides, Hotch and JJ wanted to spend one more night at home with their sons before leaving again.

Hotch told Rossi that he would contact Kahlan and let her know what time they would be leaving. He tried her cell, but didn't get an answer. He then tried calling the hotel and her room directly, but he didn't get an answer there either. A feeling deep in his stomach made him start to worry.

"There may be a problem," Reid told him as he noticed Hotch didn't get an answer.

"What?" Hotch asked him.

"I just realized what today is."

"It's Saturday. What of it?" Morgan asked him.

"Today is Wyatt's birthday," Reid told them.

Hotch head quickly snapped to the Missing Flyer they had of Wyatt on the board. He didn't doubt Reid, but seeing the boy's birthdate made his stomach flip.

"Oh my God. His birthday has to be one of the hardest days to deal with," JJ mused. She didn't want to consider how she would feel on Henry's birthday if he was missing at the time, let alone three years' worth of birthdays.

"I should go check on her," Hotch suggested.

"I would," Blake told him.

"One of us definitely should, and you seem to have the best rapport with her," JJ told him.

"It couldn't hurt," Morgan agreed.

"Alright, I will meet you all on the jet at eight," Hotch told them and left. He noticed Rossi's grin as he walked out, but he chose to ignore it.

XXX

Hotch went to Kahlan's room first. He knocked, but didn't get an answer. He tried her cell again and heard it ringing in the room. A little worried, he went to the desk clerk to get the room opened. The desk clerk was about to protest, but Hotch flashed him his badge and he just gave Hotch a room key. Hotch asked him if he had seen Kahlan. The young man hadn't, but he had just got on duty. Hotch went back to the room, opened the door, and called out for her. With no response, he quickly looked the rooms over but didn't find her. He looked at the bed she had been using. A handful of pictures were spread out on the blanket; all of them were of Wyatt. Hotch picked up one and studied it. Kahlan was kneeled down next her son and had her arms wrapped around his neck. They both looked extremely happy. He guessed Wyatt was around five years old, and he noticed that Wyatt had his mother's eyes. He put the picture down and noticed Kahlan's cell on the nightstand along with several wadded up tissues. _She's been crying._

Hotch decided to go check the bar across the street. He quickly walked to it and hard time getting though the early Saturday night crowd, but he found her sitting in the same table in the back that he had found her in before. She was staring at the beer in her hand and didn't realize Hotch was walking up to her. He quickly counted four empty bottles on the table. He could see the sadness on her face, but she wasn't crying. _Thank God!_

He stopped next to the table. "Mind if I join you?"

She looked up, surprised that someone was so close to her. She smiled sadly as she realized who it was. "Sure." He sat down at the only other stool; apparently the other two had been taken by someone in the crowd. "What brings you here?" she asked him after taking another drink of her beer.

"We're heading to Wyoming in the morning. I tried calling you, but I didn't get an answer."

She searched her pockets. "Shit. I must have left my cell in the room. I'm sorry you had to drive all the way out here," she told him honestly.

"I don't mind. We took off early so we could be rested up for the trip," he told her with a smile.

"So you have someone specifically in your sights, or is this just another fishing trip?"

"We have three people we want to look at personally."

"Wow, you've narrowed it down that much? I knew you guys were good," she told him seriously.

Hotch raised his eyebrows at that. "I can't believe with all the contacts you probably have, that you couldn't find Wyatt on your own."

"Back to that are we?"

"What? I didn't ask for any information. I just made an educated observance."

She smiled at him as a waitress came up and asked him if he would like a drink. He ordered his usual scotch and Kahlan ordered another beer. Hotch eyed the empty bottles as the waitress cleared them off the table and looked back at Kahlan. "What? It's not like I'm driving," she told him defensively.

"How many have you had?"

"Six? Seven? I don't really know. I can get drunk once a year if I want to. Who are you to judge me?" she asked him, and Hotch could hear the anger in her voice.

"I'm not judging you," he told as he raised his hands in submission. "If I was in your shoes, I'd probably be drunk every night," he told her honestly.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just not in the best mood today."

"I realize Wyatt's birthday has got to be hard," he told sympathetically.

She looked at him. _Of course he would know_, she thought as she nodded. "After the first couple of days, when it finally sunk in that I wasn't going to find Wyatt right away, I cried myself to sleep every night. After about a month, I drank myself to sleep every night. After a month of that, though, I knew I would never get anything accomplished living that way, and I vowed to not get drunk again. That's when I tried everything I could to find him. I used every contact, every trick I knew, but I just couldn't find a lead. That's when I started finding the other boys. I spent more time away from home than I did at home." She finished her beer and the waitress brought their new drinks. Hotch took a sip of his, letting her continue. "When his birthday came around, though, I found myself drinking again. I figured I deserved one breakdown a year."

Hotch gave her a sad smile. "I think once a year is admirable."

"It was hard talking to those families. None of those other boys came from a single parent or was the only child." She shook her head and took another drink. A tear fell down her cheek. "They all had someone else to help them get through it, but I didn't have anyone."

Hotch tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "Surely family and friends supported you?"

"Yes, of course, in the beginning. After so long, though, it was like they just accepted the fact that he was gone, and they moved on. They just assumed that I would, too, but I still haven't been able to do that."

"Well, your stubbornness is what has led us to getting close to some answers," Hotch told her with a smile.

"Stubbornness? More like desperation," she told him with a little laugh.

"Well, now that I've had time to really look at things, I can't say that I blame you."

She laughed again. "Well, that's good, because I truly thought you were going to kill me that first night."

Hotch felt his face flush with embarrassment. "I wasn't really thinking straight at that point."

"Oh, believe me, I completely understood. I know if I could have gotten my hands around the throat of the son of a bitch who had Wyatt that first night. . . Well, let me just say I understand."

Hotch laughed at that. He could imagine what she would do, and he made mental note to make sure she didn't get within reach of anyone they found responsible. He took a drink of his scotch as he considered the woman in front of him. _God, she is gorgeous! _He shook his head. _Jesus, she's the mother of a victim in this case, Hotchner! Get yourself under control! _

"You know, after about a year and a half, I started to give up."

"What do you mean? You gave up hope of finding him?"

"Yeah, that was my depressed stage, I guess. I even picked him out a headstone."

Hotch's heart hurt. He knew about picking out headstones. He had to do it for Haley, but he couldn't imagine trying to do it for Jack. "How did you pull yourself out of that phase?" he asked her softly.

"I really don't know, but I guess my anger took over. The angry phase lasted even longer than the depression, but I eventually got out of that, too. I finally started looking for a solution, and that's what led me to you and your team. I guess not actually having a body to grieve over screwed up the normal progression of the stages of grief."

Hotch nodded. He knew the five stages of grief well, not only had he experienced them with Haley, he had dealt with them in countless victims and their families. He guessed Kahlan had never experienced the first stage of denial. You can't deny someone is missing when they aren't there. Usually, though, anger comes next, but he figured that whatever training she had kept her going in the beginning. Bargaining came next in the usual progression, but she didn't hit that stage until she bargained for Jack and them to be given back in return for their help. The fourth stage, depression, had hit her before the anger. It was probably a good thing, too, because depression can get harder and harder to get out of the longer someone is in it. The final stage of acceptance he wasn't sure about. Had she reached that when she realized she couldn't find him on her own, and accepted the fact that she needed help? Or had she finally accepted that fact that they might not find him alive, and came to terms of just wanting answers? He wasn't sure, but could understand why the normal five stages were fucked up in her situation. "I guess we all deal with things the best way we can."

She finished her beer and got the waitress' attention to order another round. "You know, I do know it is very unlikely that we will find Wyatt alive, but I just need to know. The not knowing is what hurts the most. I don't know if he actually turned nine today or not." She looked up at the ceiling as she tried to stop new tears from falling. "I do know, though, that I won't be able to handle another one of his birthdays without knowing," and the tears stared to stream down her face. "I lose more and more strength every day."

Hotch felt his eyes stinging as they threatened their own tears. He grabbed a handful of napkins from the next table and handed them to her. He slid his stool next to hers and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his chest and cried. He rubbed his hands up and down her back trying to sooth her, but he didn't try to make her stop. She had every right to cry, and he decided to hold her as long as she let him. Tears escaped his own eyes as he felt her back heaving with the sobs. He couldn't imagine the pain she was feeling. He felt all of the emotions she had felt in just the few days that Jack was 'missing,' he didn't think he would ever be strong enough to last three years. He felt his shirt getting wet as she cried, but he didn't care.

The waitress came up with a smile, but it faded as she noticed them and sat the drinks down quietly. She gave Hotch a sympathetic smile and quickly walked away. He didn't care if the people around them noticed or not. If anyone was dumb enough to say anything, he would deal with him or her quickly. After several minutes he felt her breathing become steadier as she calmed down. Hotch grabbed one of the napkins and wiped the tears from his face.

She finally pulled away from him and wiped her own face. "God, you must think I some weak pathetic woman."

He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Never! You're not pathetic for missing your son; it just proves how much you love him."

She pushed her thumb knuckles into her eyes and gave him a small smile. "You know, that just proves how great of a man you really are." He looked at her questioningly. "That you would let me cry on your shoulder after what I did to you, you're an amazing man, Aaron Hotchner."

He smiled. He like the way she said his name. "Yeah, well, I did find out that all you had done was put my family up in a suite in a luxury hotel. Hell, Jack thought of it as a little vacation. If he had been able to go outside or use that pool, I would never have been able to get him to leave," he told her with a laugh.

She laughed at that, too. She studied the man who had shed a few tears for her and her son, and was even more impressed with him. He smiled at her again. His dimples made her heart skip a beat. She had to stop herself from wondering if he had any dimples anywhere else. She had to change the subject, so she asked him about the first thing that popped into her mind. "Why does your team call you 'Hotch'?"

He got a puzzled look as he tried to figure out what she was actually thinking. "I guess because it's just easier to say than 'Hotchner'. We normally call each other by our last names. Well, accept for JJ, but that's definitely easier than saying Jareau," he explained with a little chuckle.

"I can tell you all are very close."

"Like family," he told her truthfully.

"That must be nice. The only family I have in South Dakota is through my husband. Don't get me wrong, most of them are nice, but they're not my family."

"Your family lives here in Virginia. Have you seen them since you've been here?"

"No, I don't want them to know how involved I am. Besides, once I saw them, I probably wouldn't want to leave again." Hotch nodded as he finished his drink. She smiled. "I was actually planning on moving back here before Wyatt came up missing. They tried to get me to come back after a few months, but I couldn't leave. I couldn't handle the idea of Wyatt finally finding his way home and not finding me there."

"Of course you couldn't leave," he agreed. "You think you'll move back once you know, though?" _That would be nice._

"Probably," she mused as she finished her drink.

The waitress approached them, glad to see them over their breakdown. "Would you like another round?"

Kahlan looked at Hotch.

"I'll have another, if you are."

"Sure," she told the waitress with a smile.


	11. Chapter 11

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 11**

It wasn't long before Hotch walked Kahlan back to her room. While she wasn't falling down drunk, he knew she wasn't feeling any pain. He helped steady her as she tried to get the keycard into the little slot by the door. With a little chuckle, he took it from her and opened the door for her. He led her into the room and she plopped down in the first chair she came to. She reached down and started to untie her boots. Hotch laughed again as he realized she had pulled the laces into a knot. "Here, let me help," he told her as he knelt down and untied the laces and pulled the boot off for her. She switched feet to let him do her other boot. He smiled up at her as he took it off. He felt a burning deep down in his stomach and stood up quickly. _I need to leave before this gets out of control_.

Kahlan stood up, too. She ran a hand through the hair on the side of his head, down his neck, and let it stop on his chest. "You could stay," she suggested passionately.

Hotch took a deep breath as he looked into her eyes. They were blazing with desire, and he felt his own desire deep in his loins. He put his hand over hers and gently removed it from his body as he felt his manhood growing. "I would love to," he started.

"But you can't," she finished for him.

He shook his head slowly. "No. It wouldn't be right," he told her as he tried to get a handle on his conflicting emotions. _I can't take advantage of her while she was so vulnerable, but damn it, she isn't making it easy!_

_He's too much of a gentleman_, she thought sadly as she felt her own desire raging through her like a forest fire. "Well, maybe another time," she told with a quick raise of her brows and another sly smile.

Hotch adjusted his ever tightening slacks and swallowed, the man in him arguing with the agent in him. _It would be so nice. . . But she is a victim in this case, Hotchner! _"I better go. I will pick you up in the morning around 7:30. Maybe we'll get lucky. . . I mean maybe we'll catch a break, and we won't have to be in Wyoming so long."

She smiled warmly. "Then, I will say goodbye." She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for tonight. You gave me a nice end to a horrible day."

He returned her smile and made his way out of the room. He ran a hand down his face as he walked to his car. He could imagine Dave's laugh and could hear him telling him, _I told you so._ He shook his head as he sat down and started his car. _Shut up, Dave._ He looked at his watch. It wasn't even eight yet. He looked back at the hotel and had to fight the urge to go back to the beautiful woman. At least he still got to spend some time with Jack.

XXX

Hotch met the team on the plane. An earlier call from Reid had let him know that he stop by and pick up Kahlan because she was on his way, and Hotch let him. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing her again, alone, so soon. Within no time they were on their way to Wyoming. Kahlan sat in the back of the plane again. She never let on to what had almost happened the night before. Hotch wondered if she had actually been more drunk than he originally thought and didn't remember any of it. Rossi nudged Hotch on the leg. He looked at the older man and Rossi's eyes were gesturing toward Kahlan. Hotch glanced over at the woman and realized she was watching him, but she quickly looked away. He looked back at Rossi. "See?" Rossi asked with a smile. Hotch shook his head and tried to concentrate on the tablet in his hand. Rossi hadn't been able to ask him about the night before yet, but Hotch knew that Rossi would drill him for information the first chance got, but he would wait until they were alone. Hotch was dreading that conversation, though. Rossi always seemed to be able to figure out exactly what Hotch was thinking, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Once they landed in Casper, WY, they headed out in SUVs to the house of Martha Stanton, a single mother, and the first suspect on the list. Upon digging into her past, they found out that Martha had a son who had died at the age of seven four years ago. She was investigated because of the suspiciousness of the accident, but she was eventually cleared. The police had been concerned about her other two sons, though, and conducted several random checks over the next year which didn't reveal anything, so the checks ended, but they had informed Garcia that she always seemed to be hiding something.

The teamed came to a stop at the end of the street where they could clearly see Martha's house. They studied the run downed house and saw four boys going in and out of the house. Knowing that the woman only had two sons, they were trying to figure who the other two boys were. The looked to be the age that the missing boys would be, but it was disconcerting that they only saw two. Kahlan studied the boys. From the distance, she couldn't tell if they were any of the missing boys, but she was sure none of them were Wyatt. "What are you waiting for?" she asked impatiently.

"For the search warrant," Blake told her as she looked through binoculars.

"If she's responsible, and she sees you all, won't she get rid of evidence or something?"

"It will be here any second," Reid reassured her.

As if on cue, a local police cruiser pulled up with the document. They all prepared to serve the warrant and search the house. As they started to proceed down the street, Hotch noticed Kahlan following. "You need wait here," Hotch told her.

"What? What if it's her?"

"You have to wait here. You are a civilian unless you have some information that proves otherwise you would like to share with me," he asked her with raised brows.

She looked at him, and he thought for a second that she might actually tell him something. She didn't, though. "But. . ."

"But, nothing!" Hotch told her with a glare and a tone to tell he not to argue.

"Alright. Be careful," she told him with a genuine look of concern. He nodded and rushed to catch up with the others.

XXX

After serving the warrant and a quick search of the house, the team knew that Martha was not their unsub. The extra two boys turned out to be kids from the area, but a closer look at her own sons revealed physical abuse. They left that up to the local police to take care of, and the officers were happy to finally be able to arrest the woman.

With an unsatisfactory feeling, the team and Kahlan packed back up into their SUVs. They had two more people on their short list: David Holt outside Thermopolis, 139 miles to the north and Dennis Harper outside Wheatland, 112 miles to the south. Both men ranked about the same on Garcia's creepy scale, so they didn't have a definite reason to pick one over the other. Finally, Morgan suggested flipping a coin and they ended up going south.

Dennis Harper and his wife Laura had lost their only son in 1995. For the next year, they had tried to adopt several young boys, but every home visit ended with the adoption agencies turning them down. Laura had also spent time in a psychiatric hospital for severe depression in the late nineties and again in 2005, one year before the new set of boys went missing.

They arrived in Wheatland at around six that evening. They met with the local police and set up a morning raid. They found a small hotel, checked in, and prepared to go to a local restaurant for dinner. The team waited in the hall as Hotch knocked on Kahlan's room. "You coming with us to eat?"

She smiled and noticed the team watching them. "No, thank you, though. My stomach still hasn't recovered from my outing last night."

Hotch realized, sadly, that he had forgotten about her ulcer. He should have stopped her from drinking so much. "Not even some soup or something?" She could hear the concern in his voice, but declined politely. As he joined his team, he wondered again if she even remembered the night before. _Probably not. She wouldn't have come on to me had she been sober_, he thought dejectedly.

They all enjoyed the meal and the company, but Rossi noticed that Hotch was a little too distant. No one else notice, though, so Rossi waited until they were back at the hotel to confront Hotch about it. Once everyone else had entered their rooms, Rossi stepped back and knocked on Hotch's door.

"Enter," came Hotch's answer through the door.

Rossi found Hotch already relaxing on the bed as he used the remote to turn on the TV. He walked over and sat on the chair next to the bed.

Hotch gave him a quick glance. _I was wondering how long it would take him._ "Hey, Dave."

"So how did last night go?"

"Alright, I guess. Horrible in some ways, fine in others," Hotch told him as he focused on the TV.

"Horrible?"

"She wasn't taking Wyatt's birthday too well."

"And you helped her through it?"

Hotch looked at Rossi out the corner of his eyes and looked back to the TV. "I listened as she cried."

"It was probably nice to have someone to talk to," Rossi mused. Hotch shrugged, and Rossi knew he was being too cryptic, so he knew there was a lot more to the story. "Anything happen between you two?"

Hotch gave Rossi a shocked look. "The woman was grieving, Dave, and drunk. Damn, do you actually think I would take advantage of a woman in such a vulnerable state?"

"No! Of course not." Rossi told him honestly. He stood up and took a long look at Hotch. He patted him on the shoulder. "You are a good man, Aaron," he told him with a smile and left to go to his own room.

Hotch watched him leave and shook his head, knowing Rossi had figured it out. _Am I really that easy to read?_

XXX

The next morning Hotch invited Kahlan to breakfast, and to his surprise she accepted. Rossi and Reid were the only ones to join them, though, as everyone else just wanted coffee brought back to them. They were making small talk and Hotch noticed Rossi being his charming self. Reid started entertaining Kahlan with several stories about the lists he liked to compile. Hotch was again impressed by whatever training Kahlan had received because she actually looked interested in what Reid was saying. He smiled at Rossi as he nodded to Reid. Rossi laughed and rolled his eyes. Hotch was sitting across from Kahlan, and he noticed her eyes were almost sparkling as she listened to the young genius. _Hell, maybe she is interested, she's almost as smart as him,_ Hotch thought but mentally shook his head. She might have been almost as smart as Reid, but she definitely wasn't as strange or awkward as Reid was.

Rossi asked Hotch something about Jack, but he didn't really hear it because he suddenly felt a foot rubbing up and down his calf. _She does remember!_ Hotch thought as Rossi noticed a slight shift in the way Hotch was sitting and repeated the question. "Was Jack upset you have to leave again so soon?"

Hotch smiled. "Well, I explained to him that there were several boys who were being missed by their mommies and daddies, and he wished me luck in finding them fast." Hotch smiled again as the foot made its way up to his thigh.

Rossi gave Hotch a strange look. He knew Hotch loved talking about his son, but the smiles were just a little too strange to be about Jack. He glanced at Kahlan; she was still deep in the conversation with Reid, so Rossi didn't think the smiles were for her. _Maybe Hotch is remembering last night_.

Kahlan let her foot work its way to the middle of the seat Hotch was sitting in.

As her toes pressed into Hotch's manhood a small groan escaped his lips, he quickly looked at his watch. "We better be going," he told the table. Reid and Kahlan looked at him as if they just realized they were not alone. _Damn she is good! No one would know what she was doing._ Hotch thought to himself. Rossi nodded and stood up. Kahlan and Reid followed him to the door. Hotch stood up, took a deep breath, and adjusted himself discretely. He noticed that Kahlan was wearing slip on shoes. _And yet, I was wondering how she got her foot out of her boot so easily._ He smiled and ran a hand down his face. _I think I'm going to be in trouble with this one._

XXX

Everyone piled into the SUV's to execute the search warrant on Dennis Harper. Kahlan didn't argue with Hotch about waiting by the car, but she wished the team luck and told them to be safe. Garcia had alerted them first thing that morning that Dennis had several rifles and two pistols registered in his name.

Within seconds of Morgan kicking the door in, the agents had Dennis Harper in handcuffs. A search of the house found his wife passed out on the couch and a basement full of marijuana plants, but nothing else. They let the local police take care of Harper and the house, and they got back into the SUVs and headed back to the hotel in silence. The second strike put them into a somber mood, and Hotch noticed through the rear view mirror that Kahlan shed a tear. He knew what she was thinking, and he hoped that the only suspect left on the list didn't end up being another strike. _Three strikes and we're out,_ he thought sarcastically. He shook his head.

They got back to the hotel and packed up their things. They had decided to leave as soon as possible to get to Thermopolis. Garcia had told them about the 300 acres David Holt owned, and they knew it would take a while to search the entire area. Kahlan rode with Hotch and Rossi. Everyone else rode with Morgan. Hotch figured it was because they didn't want to be around Kahlan because they knew they were running out of options and they felt sorry for her. Hotch had wished Reid had ridden with them, maybe he could have gotten her talking and got her mind off the morning's disappointment. She sat directly behind him, so it was easier for him to see her in the rear view mirror. He watched her swallow her pills and could only imagine the pain she was in physically and mentally. She leaned her seat back and closed her eyes. Hotch hoped that maybe she could at least rest if not actually fall asleep. Hotch was worried about her, but she let him know she was alright by squeezing her foot between the door and Hotch's seat, letting her toes rest up against his thigh. He smiled and moved his right hand to the steering wheel and moved his left hand to rest on her foot. He gave her foot a squeeze to try and give her some comfort. Rossi was too busy studying the file in his hands to notice any of it.


	12. Chapter 12

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 12**

Kahlan had removed her foot from Hotch's side about an hour into the ride. Hotch thought that it grown uncomfortable, but realized he was wrong as Rossi shifted in his seat to look at Hotch. With a glance in the mirror, Hotch noticed that Kahlan looked asleep. He smiled. She had known Rossi was going to turn even before Hotch did. He marveled at how aware she was even when she didn't seem to be. He almost beat himself up over it. He had always prided himself on his awareness and to realize that Kahlan was better at it than he was, kind of put a dent in his ego. _She probably saw something from the back seat that I couldn't see_, he told himself to sooth his male pride. _Nah, she's just that good_, he corrected himself. He was actually in awe of the woman, and Hotch was too much of a gentleman to be chauvinistic and think that because he was a man that he had to be better than her.

Rossi glanced back at Kahlan and then looked at Hotch. Hotch's glances to the mirror hadn't escaped Rossi's attention, nor had the fact that Hotch had been holding her foot. He would never say anything about it in front of both of them, but he would definitely give Hotch shit about it later. All kidding aside, though, he had the feeling his Unit Chief was falling for the mysterious woman. While he liked teasing Hotch about whether or not Hotch was attracted to her, he worried about it going any further than that. He wanted Hotch to be happy. _He deserves to be happy!_ He just wasn't sure Kahlan was the one to make him happy. He knew Hotch would never be the type to have a casual fling; to just have sex. Hotch was too much of a gentleman to share that kind of intimacy with a woman he didn't love and have future plans with. Rossi was afraid, though, that Kahlan wasn't seeing Hotch in that way. He wasn't sure if Kahlan was capable of loving anyone with the state her life was in, not that he could blame her, but the outcome of this case would definitely impact her one way or the other. Maybe once the case was over and Kahlan had either her son or the answers she needed, she may be able to move on and love again. He just wanted to make sure she wasn't using Hotch as a distraction. _I'll have to have a talk with her, and fast,_ he thought as he looked at her again. He liked Kahlan, and he didn't care about her past. What he saw now is what mattered in his mind, but he was not about to let her hurt the man he thought of as a son.

They arrived in Thermopolis close to two that afternoon. David Holt's residence, though, was still about forty miles away, forty miles out into the middle of nowhere. The local police station was in town, and Garcia had alerted them of the team's arrival. Thermopolis didn't have a big police force especially since they were responsible for such a big area. The team followed Hotch into the station and Sheriff Tim Cook greeted them with handshakes and a smile. Hotch introduced his team, but noticed Kahlan had grabbed a seat by the door. "So you guys are interested in David Holt, huh?"

"Yes. What can you tell us about him?" Hotch asked as the man led them to a little conference room that apparently doubled as a break room.

"Well, he's definitely a strange old bird," the detective started. "He lives on his family ranch, hardly ever comes to town, hell, I think that place is almost self-sufficient."

"Does he have any kids?" JJ asked him. Garcia had told them that there were no records of him and his wife, Charlene, having any kids.

"He's got a couple older boys and some grandkids now, I believe." The team shared glances.

"When you say 'older boys', what age are you talking about?" Reid asked.

"Twenties, I guess."

"So you have seen them," Hotch wanted to clarify.

"Maybe once or twice a year. They'd come into town with David heading to cattle sales. Never talked with 'em, though."

"And these 'grandkids', they belong to the older boys?" Blake asked him.

"Well I assumed. David is not some spring chicken, but I guess they could still be his."

"So you've never seen any woman that these older boys might be with?" It was Rossi's turn to ask.

The Detective's eyes moved up and to his left, indicating that he was trying to remember. "To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever seen a woman with them. I've never even seen Holt's wife."

"Don't you find that a little strange?" Morgan asked him.

"Well, when I've only seen the men when they were hauling cattle, I didn't find it strange at the time. Now, that I think about it, though, I guess it is."

"Where do the boys go to school?" Blake asked.

"They don't. They stay on the ranch as far as I know."

"You realize that is not even legal, right?" Hotch asked him. Rossi could tell that Hotch was getting angry.

"A lot of folks around here home school their kids. The hours put in on the family farms and ranches don't let them attend school," he told Hotch defensively.

"Have you ever checked to see if any of them were actually enrolled?" Hotch was giving him his stare and Rossi noticed the detective swallowed hard.

"No."

"Do you even know how many children he has, old or young?"

The man shifted in his seat. "I guess not. Two older, maybe two younger, I'm not sure."

"Have you ever been to his house?" Rossi jumped in.

"No. Never had a reason to. Exactly what is it you all think he has done?"

Hotch stood up. He couldn't take the incompetence of the man sitting in front of him. As Hotch approached him, Cook stood up. Hotch towered over the man by eight inches. "What hospital did they have the kids in? Or do you think they did that at home, too?" Hotch asked.

"I. . . I don't know. What difference does that make?"

"Because there are no records of Holt having any kids!" Hotch inched closer to the man's face with every statement. "Because there are over fifteen boys in the last twenty years who have disappeared. Because two of those boys were found dead right across the state line in Idaho!" By the time Hotch was finished, Cook's head was leaning against the wall. Rossi got up and put his hand on Hotch's shoulder.

Cook looked at the agents with a shocked look. "I didn't know."

Hotch stormed out of the room. Rossi let him go.

Kahlan immediately looked up when she heard a door slam. She saw Hotch at the back of the station. She could tell he was furious as she watched him paced back and forth trying to get control of his emotions. She could think of only one thing that would make him that angry. _They've found them._ She quickly walked over to him. "Aaron?"

He stopped his pacing, but she noticed his teeth were clenched and his nostrils were flaring. He also wouldn't look at her. "Tell me," she told him softly. He inhaled deeply and finally looked at her. He grabbed her elbow, led her out of the station, stopped on the sidewalk, and turned to face her. She noticed his anger had been replaced with concern.

"He may be our unsub," he admitted.

"The local police didn't know." It wasn't a question. "How bad is it?"

"I don't know yet. Apparently the sheriff has seen some older boys and some younger boys," he told her and he waited for a reaction.

She didn't give him one. "I see," she told him calmly. She turned and took a couple steps away from him. Her mind was racing. They needed more information. She turned back to him. "When will you make the raid?"

"I don't know yet. I. . . left the meeting."

"May I join in?"

Hotch thought it over. There was no way he should let one of the mothers in on a meeting where they were discussing the unsub, but Kahlan wasn't just a mother. He didn't know _what_ she was for sure, but he knew she could probably help.

She searched his face, and she could see the conflict within him. She raised her brows as if to ask the question again.

"Alright." He nodded and she followed him back into the station's conference room. He noticed a few worried glances from the team, but no one verbally objected to her joining them. They had arranged all of the boys' pictures on the wall in order of disappearance. The sheriff and his three deputies were studying the photos.

"I know this is Chase," one of the deputies said as he pointed to the picture of the boy abducted in 1998. "This is an old picture, but there's no mistaking that curly hair," he told them with a smile.

"Have you actually met him?" Reid asked him.

"Not really, but he comes in with the old man. I heard the old man yell his name once."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Blake asked.

"Last spring, I think."

"How about any of the others?" Hotch asked them.

The sheriff looked warily at Hotch but stepped up to the picture of Christopher Jackson. "I've seen him a few times. He was with them last spring."

Hotch glanced at Kahlan. She was studying the sheriff. "How many different boys have you seen?" She asked him.

"I have seen two older boys for sure because I have seen them at the same time. I've also seen two younger boys at the same time, but I think I have seen at least four different ones."

"What do you mean 'think'?" Kahlan continued her interrogation.

"I've only seen them in the truck. They all look so much alike that I can't be sure."

A deputy stepped up and studied the face of Devin Crockett. "I think I've seen this one, but it's been a few years."

"Well this definitely gives us enough for a warrant. That will take a few hours, though." Reid pointed out.

"You guys are going to go out there and serve a warrant?" one of the deputies asked, clearly shocked.

"Of course. Why?" Reid asked.

"I had to go out there once. I had to escort the census taker, and the old man met us on the road about two miles away from the house. He wouldn't let us past. He filled out the form real quick and made us leave."

"That old man is a bastard," one of the other deputies injected.

"How would he know you were coming?" Kahlan asked.

"The house is on a ridge, they can see anyone coming down the drive for about five miles," the deputy explained.

For a millisecond, Hotch thought he saw a look of dread cross Kahlan's face, but it was replaced with her normal calm exterior. He could tell she was thinking, considering the information she was compiling.

"So, none of you have actually been to the house? None of you know what's actually out there?" Kahlan asked them.

"I know there are several out buildings on the way to and around the house, but that's it," the deputy who had been with the census taker told them.

"What about guns? Is Holt the type to use them?" Morgan asked

"You're in Wyoming. Everybody has a gun," the sheriff told him dryly.

Morgan looked at Hotch, they were thinking the same thing and knew that it could get dangerous really quickly.

"If these boys were taken way back in the nineties, wouldn't they have escaped once they were big enough?" Cook asked.

"I could be Stockholm Syndrome. It could be that since they were taken at such a young age, they could have been there long enough that they don't even remember life before it." Reid suggested.

"Either way, if those boys are actually with Holt, it changes our approach," Morgan pointed out.

"Is there only one road out there?" Rossi asked.

A deputy nodded.

Hotch suddenly realized Kahlan wasn't in the room. He panicked for a second and went in search of her. He found her outside on her phone. She hung up as he walked up, so he didn't get a chance to figure out who she was talking to.

"I need an hour," she told him before he could ask any questions.

"What?"

"I need an hour," she told him with a smile that revealed nothing. "And the keys."

"Why?"

"Can you just trust me?"

Hotch studied her. When he realized she was gone he had feared she had gone after Holt on her own, but he wasn't getting that from her now, or at least he didn't think he was.

"My God." She smiled as she shook her head. "An hour wouldn't give me enough time to go all the way out there and back," she told him as if she had read his mind.

"Why can't you tell me what you are going to do?"

"You can't plan a raid safely if you go in there blind," she told him matter-of-factly.

That was true, but he noticed she didn't answer his question. _Has she ever?_

"One hour," he told her and held up the keys to the SUV.

She smiled, grabbed the keys, and leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe even faster."

He watched her quickly walk to SUV, get in, and take off. He sighed heavily and turned and walked back into the station.

Rossi met Hotch at the door. He was wondering where they had gone. Rossi gave Hotch a puzzled look when he realized Kahlan wasn't with him. "What's going on?"

"Kahlan had something she needed to do," Hotch told him as he walked back to the conference room.

Morgan overheard them and got extremely worried. Rossi was mirroring his emotions, too. Apparently they were both thinking what Hotch had originally thought.

"She's only going to be gone an hour," Hotch explained.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled. "You let her leave not knowing what she doing? But. . . but you know what she. . ." he couldn't finish the statement because they didn't know what she was.

"She will be back," Hotch said simply, and he believed it.

Morgan wasn't so sure.

Rossi smiled, though, he realized that Hotch trusted her, so, of course, he trusted her, too.

"She wouldn't do anything foolish," Reid reassured them.

They continued to discuss Holt and his property, and within forty minutes Kahlan was back. She walked into the conference room and put several photos down on the table between Rossi and Hotch. Hotch looked at the photos and then looked at her and smiled. Rossi spread the photos out and looked at her with raised brows, clearly surprised.

"How the hell did you get these?" Morgan asked as he picked up the photos.

"Does that really matter?" Kahlan asked innocently. Hotch chuckled; he knew she wouldn't tell them anyway.

Reid looked over Morgan's shoulder. "Wow! Satellite imaging of Holt's property. The clarity is awesome!"

Kahlan winked at him and sat down next to Rossi. "You can't execute a raid without knowing exactly what you are raiding."

JJ and Blake came into the room. "We were able to get witness statements that confirmed sightings of Christopher Jackson and Chase Sanders," JJ told the room.

"The witnesses also confirmed seeing two other young boys, but they weren't able to identify them," Blake explained with a glance at Kahlan.

_Maybe one of them is Wyatt_, Kahlan thought with a glimmer of hope, but she made sure her face stayed passive.

"Well, even with these photos, you guys aren't doing anything tonight are you?" Cook asked them.

Hotch looked at his watch, 5:47. "No, we have to plan everything out thoroughly, but we will be going out first thing in the morning."

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I think skipping lunch sucked. I vote we all take a break and go get something to eat," Rossi suggested as he stood up and patted his stomach.

JJ smiled at the incorrigible man. "I agree."

Hotch looked at the rest of his team and with their nods of agreement he stood up, grabbed the satellite photos, and turned to the sheriff. "We'll meet you back here at seven in the morning."

"We'll be here," he told him.

"Where's a good place to eat?" Rossi asked him.

"The Doorknob over on highway 20 is great, and I know the name is stupid, but the food is good."

"Alright, we'll see you in the morning," Rossi told him and they left the little station.


	13. Chapter 13

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 13**

The team and Kahlan headed in their SUVs to the Doorknob to eat. The restaurant was quite busy, so they couldn't all sit together. Hotch told them it was fine, and told his team to use it as a break and that they would discuss things once they found a hotel. Hotch, Rossi, and Kahlan sat at a square table in the main dining area, and the rest of the team sat together at a large table in a separate dining room.

Hotch and Rossi sat across from each other, so that left Kahlan to be in the middle no matter which side she chose. She knew they did it on purpose, too. With a sigh, she sat down and waited for the questions to start. The waiter saved her, though, as he showed up and took their drink order. Hotch noticed how the waiter was just a little too friendly to Kahlan. _Really? She's sitting with two men and he's going to flirt with her? He's either brave or stupid_, Hotch thought as he glared at the man. Kahlan didn't seem to notice. Rossi almost laughed as he watched them. Once the waiter left, Rossi turned to Kahlan. "I know you probably won't answer, but you must know that I have to ask. Where did those images come from?"

She gave him her best smile. "A friend."

Hotch smiled at that. _Well, she did answer._

"You know that's not what I meant," Rossi told her.

She smiled at him again. "Fine. I guess it doesn't really matter anyway." She took a deep breath. "A friend in the CIA."

"You have friends in some very interesting places," Rossi stated.

"Yep."

"Are these friends, people with whom you have worked before?"

"There are no records of me ever working with them." _Parry_

"So you have worked with them unofficially." Rossi said as he tried to formulate his next question.

Hotch smiled. Now he knew why Rossi had enjoyed himself so much as Hotch tried to interrogate her.

Kahlan silently waited for Rossi to ask another question, but the waiter brought their drinks and took their food order.

The side of Hotch's top lip rose just a little as the waiter's hand grasped Kahlan's for a moment as he took the menu from her. Rossi thought Hotch was going to actually growl.

"I suppose you want to participate in the raid in the morning?" Rossi finally asked her.

"Of course."

"And how could we best utilize your abilities?" Rossi asked with a grin. Apparently he thought he had her cornered.

"In any capacity you could devise. I am extremely adaptable." _Parry._

Rossi glared at her. "Which capacity would you prefer?"

Her brows flicked up, impressed by the question. Hotch almost laughed as he watched her try to formulate an answer that wouldn't give anything away.

The waiter saved her again, though, as he brought their salads. Hotch snorted as the waiter made sure to give Kahlan extra dressing. Kahlan glanced at Hotch. "Aaron, my love, would please pass me the salt and pepper?" She asked as she exaggerated the first part of the question and caressed his neck with her hand. The waiter huffed and quickly left. Rossi just shook his head. She giggled and excused herself to go to the restroom.

"Really, Aaron? Why didn't you just challenge him to a pissing contest outside?" Rossi asked as he laughed.

"Well, that was rude. He had no right to flirt with a woman sitting with two men," Hotch told him defensively. "I didn't think she noticed it."

"She did notice it, but was choosing to ignore it." Rossi shook his head again. "At least she stopped it before you had to embarrass yourself."

"Shut up and eat your salad."

"She's stalling. I think I finally have her."

"I wouldn't count on it."

She returned and started in on her salad.

"You haven't answered my question," Rossi reminded her with a cocky grin.

"Which position I would prefer?" She asked, and Rossi nodded. "Which ever position your team is weakest in." _Thrust and kill!_

Hotch openly laughed and Rossi hung his head in defeat.

The rest of the meal was passed with small talk. They made their way to a hotel and Hotch gave them thirty minutes before he wanted to meet in one of the hotel conference rooms to plan out everything for the morning. Kahlan was getting her clothes ready for the next day when she heard a knock on her door. She figured it was Hotch, and her look of shock as she opened the door made Rossi smile. "What can I do for you Agent Rossi?"

"Please, call me, Dave," he told her as he entered her room uninvited.

She looked at him questioningly as she shut the door. "Have a seat," she offered as she sat in a chair.

"No thank you," he told her as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I need to talk to you, and I don't know if you're going to like what I have to say."

She raised her brows at the way he was acting. "Then I suggest you just get on with it."

"Aaron is my best friend," he told her as he started to pace.

"I can see that."

"In fact, I really rather think of him like a son." He stopped and looked her in the eyes. "I don't know what's going on between you two, and I know it's none of my business. . ."

She smiled. "It is your business, if you care about him. Just say what you want to say."

"I don't want to see you toying with him. I don't want to see him hurt," he told her very seriously.

She could definitely see the paternal nature of the man in front of her, and yet, she could clearly hear the veiled threat in his words, too. She smiled warmly at him. "Dave, I would never toy with any man. I am not that kind of woman. Yeah, I may flirt with the best of them, but I would never lead a man on."

He studied her face. "I don't want Aaron falling for you if you have no intention of reciprocating."

She stared at him a moment. "Maybe he's not the only one falling," she said softly.

Rossi considered her for a moment then walked up to her. He pulled her up to stand before him, and put his hand on the side of her face. "Tomorrow is important for you, and I'm also worried that if it doesn't work out for you, that you may blame him."

"Never," she told him sincerely. "I promise."

Rossi let his hand drop. "You also have to realize that if arrests are to be made, Aaron will want to make them."

She knew what he was implying. "Afraid I'll lose my temper?"

"You have a temper?" He laughed. "No, but I may be afraid of what you will want to do."

"I promise to do only what needs to be done."

_Like that wasn't ambiguous! I swear that must be her middle name!_ "Well, I guess I will see you downstairs." He patted her shoulder as he walked by her to the door. He opened it as Hotch was about ready to knock on it. "Hotch," Rossi nodded to him as he stepped past him into the hall.

"Rossi," Hotch said as he looked back and forth between Kahlan and Rossi. Rossi just smiled and continued down the hall. "What was that about?" He asked her as he shut the door.

Kahlan smiled at him. "He made me promise to behave myself tomorrow."

Hotch believed that. "Speaking of tomorrow," he started as he moved further into her room. "You know, I should not even let you go with us tomorrow." She started to argue. "If something were to happen to you, the whole team could actually get into a lot of trouble. You are officially just a civilian, correct?"

She bit her bottom lip as she considered him. He was right. If something were to happen, he could lose his job for allowing a civilian in on a FBI raid. "What if I told you that the badge I used to approach Jessica and Will was real?"

He gave her a puzzled look. _No. She can't be in the FBI. Can she?_ "Are you going to explain how it's real?"

"I think that's a conversation that will take longer than we have right now. But I can tell you that you would not be held liable for anything that might happen to me."

He shook his head. He thought she was telling him the truth, but how could he be sure? He could bet his own job on it, but his teams' jobs?

"Aaron, I know this is difficult for you, and I promise to sit down and answer all of your questions when we have the time; but I think you are going to need me tomorrow. The six of you are going to need all the help you can get if everything goes to shit, and I don't trust those local cops to back you up properly."

He frowned as he considered what she said.

"Look, I will not engage, I will stay completely out of the way unless I am needed."

_I will not engage? God, now it sounds like she's got military training. Shit! I just can't seem to get a handle on her._ "Alright. As long as you promise to stay in the capacity of just back-up."

"Of course," she told him with a smile.

He shook his head. He had a sinking feeling that he had just made a deal with the devil. "Am I ever going to know everything about you?" he asked with a smile.

She grinned. "You will if you stick around long enough."

_And what the hell are you trying to say now?_ He ran a hand across the back of his neck. "Come on, they're probably waiting on us."

He was right. The whole team was already discussing the satellite photos Kahlan had provided. They were trying to guess the purpose of the buildings. They paused as Hotch and Kahlan walked in and joined them at the table.

"I would say our biggest problem is approach," Morgan told them. "We can't just all take the road in and not expect them to try and stop us."

"And while someone is trying to stop us, who's to say what is happening back at the house," JJ added.

They all considered the photos as they thought about a solution. "We could send in a group up the road as a decoy, and let them go out to stop them. Then the other groups could come in from different directions to raid the house and other main buildings," Hotch suggested.

Kahlan smiled at him. _Which is exactly what I would do_.

"How do we get in there to flank them?" Morgan wondered. "ATV's?"

"I have studied the terrain, and I don't think the areas leading up to the main part of the property from the north or the east are accessible by ATVs." Reid pointed out.

"Any of you all ever go horseback riding?" Kahlan asked with raised brows.

Reid studied the map some more. "That might work."

"You want us to go riding in there on horses?" Blake asked as if she thought Kahlan was crazy.

"I'm not saying that you should go riding in there guns blazing like some old western. I'm saying use the horses to get close enough to your target to approach on foot," she clarified.

Hotch liked the idea. "Have any of you ever ridden?" He asked his team as he realized it was one subject that had never come up before.

"I used to," JJ admitted.

"Yeah, once, like twenty years ago," Rossi told him with a frown; he clearly didn't enjoy it. "Have you?" He asked Hotch.

"Some, but it has been a while." He turned to Kahlan. "Have you?"

"Of course, I have lived in South Dakota for over ten years. I would also assume that the sheriff and his deputies know how, too."

Hotch studied the photos a little more. He looked at Reid. "Can you drive an ATV?"

"I can ride a motorcycle. I wouldn't think it would be that much different."

"It's easier," Morgan told him.

"Blake and the Sheriff can approach the house from the road; Morgan, Reid, Rossi, and a deputy can approach on ATVs from the west; JJ, a deputy, and I will approach from the east on horseback; and Kahlan and the other deputy can come in from the north on horseback as back up." He paused to let that sink in and see if there were any objections. Getting none, he went on. "Once you're close to the house, Morgan can take the deputy and enter the house from the front, while Reid and Rossi can enter it from the rear. The rest of us will hold our positions and enter the house if needed. Of course, we also have to clear each of the buildings as we approach them." They all nodded their agreements. "I want all buildings cleared before the house is breached, so we are going to have to keep track of our timing and let each other know what's going on."

Reid took the photo that was the zoomed out the farthest and drew a grid on it to let them all know which buildings each group would be responsible for clearing. He then took each of the other photos and separated them into groups so that they could each have one that showed the buildings they would be searching.

JJ took out her phone and called the sheriff to see if they could even get horses and ATVS to use in the raid. Cook assured her that he could get them, but that they probably wouldn't be able to get them to town until about 8:30. JJ relayed the information to Hotch, and he had to agree, of course. Cook also told her that he could get the deputies from the neighboring counties over to help if they needed them. Hotch thought it was a good idea and asked for five more men, and added that if they could help he would need three more horses. Cook assured her that everything would be ready for them to meet at the station at 8:30.

"I'm sure you all realize that since some of the boys from the nineties are still there, that if Holt puts up a fight they will probably join him," Hotch told them all somberly. "I don't need to remind you all that extreme force needn't be used unless that is the only possibility." They all understood. None of them wanted to have to shot someone who was a victim.

"As far as that goes, even some of the younger boys may join in the fight," Reid pointed out. With a worried look from JJ, he added, "some of them have been there for several years."

They all looked at Kahlan. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know none of you will hurt any of those boys on purpose. But you must do what you have to do to keep yourselves and each other safe." JJ gave her a small smile.

They split up into their groups to discuss the details of their part of the raid.

Kahlan looked at her section of the property. All she had to worry about was a big barn and then be back up for anyone who needed it. She liked it. She also knew that coming in from the north gave her the advantage of higher ground. She would be able to see most of the property from her vantage point and that let her be able to keep an eye on everybody else. She wondered what type of rifles the sheriff had at his disposal, so she quickly looked up the sheriff's number and texted him about it. Within seconds he told her she could use either use his 30-06 deer hunting rifle or his 220 Swift varmint rifle. She chose the 220 for its long reaching capability and asked for the deputy with the best rifle skills to be paired with her. He agreed.

An hour later, Hotch told them all to go to bed and to be ready to go by 8:15. JJ pointed out the hotel served breakfast, so they would not have to leave to find food. They all said their goodnights and headed to their rooms.


	14. Chapter 14

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 14**

Kahlan paced in her room. Everything in her was warning her about tomorrow. She had a feeling that things weren't going to be easy, that everything was going to go very badly. She wasn't sure if it was truly her instincts that were telling her that, or if it was the mother in her that was just making everything seem worse. She slammed a fist down on the dresser as she stopped in front of it. The small amount of pain in her hand did little to distract her from her worries. She was struggling with the hope that wanted to rise up as she might actually see her son tomorrow and the fear that she might find his body and know she would never see him again. The whole thing would be bad enough if they were just going in to rescue somebody else's sons, but knowing her own might be in there had her second guessing her own abilities. Any other time, before going on a mission, she felt calm and sure, like a panther coiled for the strike. Now, though, she felt as if she was going to throw up and she knew it had nothing to do with the ulcer that had plagued her for over three years. She was a bundle of nerves, and she had no idea how to get past it to the calm center she always prided herself on being able to find in any situation.

She started pacing again. She didn't doubt the agents' abilities; she had done enough research on them to know they were beyond capable. In fact, she had been pleasantly impressed with all of them. They each had strength and weaknesses, as with any team, but she marveled on how well they meshed together and complimented each other. The team truly was a family in every way except blood. In fact, that was why she attacked part of their family to get them involved. She knew they would do anything to save them. She admitted, though, that she hadn't counted on caring about how her actions affected them emotionally. That was the mother in her, she knew. Years ago, she wouldn't have let their feelings get to her. She would have been cold and callused until everything was done. She would never have hurt them, but she would have kept up the façade that she started with. She shook her head; she knew that made her a better person, a better mother, but she also knew that it made her less of a. . . what? She never really considered herself an agent, a weapon maybe, a tool. What would she have called herself all those years ago? She never really thought about it back then, she just - was. That was the problem, though; she was whatever she needed to be for the mission. Maybe she considered herself a chameleon, a shape shifter, a ghost. That was what her first boss had called her, way back in 1992, a ghost who could get in, do the job, and get out. 'Ghosts can walk through walls. They are never seen unless they want to be,' she remembered him saying.

No, she could not call herself a ghost. She definitely could not use that term when others asked what she was; besides, sometimes she was the exact opposite of a ghost. Get in, be seen, do what needed to be done, and make sure they knew you were there. That was how her reputation could strike fear into those who knew she was after them; psychological torture before the kill – she was an expert. She sat on the chair and steepled her fingers as she rested her elbows on her knees. If she had to give herself a title, it would have to be operative. Her mind quickly found the definition in the dictionary she had memorized in her youth. 'operative: noun: somebody who performs a particular task or who works in a particular field'. Yes, that would work just fine, an operative in the intelligence field. _Well, now you know what to tell Aaron, but it doesn't fucking help with tomorrow, dumbass!_

She got up and paced again. She needed to calm herself. Years ago, she never had any trouble falling asleep. It was like she had on 'off' switch for her brain that she could use at any time. Since, then, though, she had lost that ability. Too many sleepless nights in the last three years proved that. She needed sleep tonight. She knew she needed to be alert and on the top of her game tomorrow, but she couldn't do that without sleep. She wondered for a moment, if she could do it without sleep, but kicked that idea to the curb. _I'm getting too old for this shit!_

Pacing was making her feel like a caged animal, so she decided to go take a walk. Maybe the cold night air would help clear her mind. She grabbed her coat, went out the door, and down the hall toward the hotel's exit. She wasn't watching where she was going as she rounded the last corner and ran straight into Hotch. Being in operative mode, she unconsciously struck out with her left hand and jumped back to put space between her and whoever was in front of her.

A strangled gasp type moan escaped Hotch. Before he even knew what had happened, he was on his knees with a hand to the top of his wounded chest and throat. For a second or two he couldn't breathe as blinding pain erupted from the point right behind where his collar bones joined at the base of his throat. He stared wild-eyed as he looked up Kahlan.

A look of shock and terror covered her face as she realized what she had done and who she had done it to. "Oh my God! Aaron, I am so sorry!" She yelled as she helped him back into a standing position.

"What the hall was that?" He asked once he finally could.

"Reflex?" She said sheepishly.

"Jesus Christ!" he yelled as he still rubbed the point of contact.

She winced as she saw the bruise already forming. Had he been wearing his suit and tie, it wouldn't have been such an effective strike. "I don't know what to say, except that I'm sorry."

"What the hell were you thinking? Didn't you notice it was me?" By the look on her face he knew she didn't. "God, you could have attacked anyone." He wasn't sure if he was more scared that she had incapacitated him so easily, that she had done it without even meaning to, or that she could have done it to any guest at the hotel. He shook his head and rubbed the spot again. "Why are you even out here? Where are going?"

"I couldn't sleep. I'm too wound up," she started.

"You think?"

She sighed heavily. "I was going to go for a walk. Why are you out here?"

"I couldn't sleep either. I went down to get a cup of coffee," he told her as he gestured to the spilt cup on the floor.

She bent down and picked it up. "I'm sorry. I'll get you another cup."

"Forget about it. I'm just glad it was me and not some poor unsuspecting guest."

"Yeah, definitely better to attack some poor unsuspecting agent. I don't know what got into me."

"Thinking about tomorrow get you back into old habits?"

She gave him her best apologetic look. "I guess. That's why I'm going to take a walk. I need to try and clear my head."

"Want some company?" He asked and finally smiled at her.

"Sure," she told him surprisingly.

They walked outside together and started down the street. "Is it Wyatt that has you so worried?"

"I think so. I got to thinking about the past, and I was beating myself up for not being to calm and focus like I used to be able to."

"Things change when you have kids." He definitely knew the truth to that.

She nodded. "I don't see how you can do your job as well as you do being a parent. I can't even seem to be able to handle the night before the job."

"Being a parent makes me want to do my job better."

"Ah, yes. Make the world a safer place for your son."

He nodded. "For everyone's sons and daughters."

"You were out before you ever had Wyatt. I assume you didn't want to do your job once you had a family, was that your plan, or did family just happen once you were out?"

"I never thought about family while I was working. Once I left, though, the thought came up. Then I met Collin, we eventually married and later had Wyatt. I was never happier. I never missed the job."

_Working, the job, once I got out, she never even hints to what she did. _"Why did you quit?"

She turned and smiled at him. "That's part of a longer conversation." She rubbed her hands together and mentally kicked herself for not bringing her gloves.

He grabbed her hands and surrounded them with his own. His bigger hands completely enveloped hers; she smiled as she felt the warmth. "I will keep you to your promise of telling me all about it," he told her as she turned to start walking again. He smiled again as he realized she was going to keep holding his right hand with her left. She stuffed her right hand it her coat pocket.

They walked silently for a moment. He could tell she was thinking. "What if what you find out changes everything you think about me?" She asked softly.

"Well," he started. "I think I might have some idea about what you have done. The whole, almost chopping my head off with your hand thing, kind of gives me an idea." He told her with a laugh as he rubbed the still throbbing spot.

She laughed, too, but hers was more from embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess I have dropped a few hints." She felt him shiver. He hadn't planned on going out, so he didn't have his coat on. "We better head back," she told him as she started to turn.

He pulled her to a stop. In the dim street lights he couldn't really make out her face. "Are you sure you're going to be ok with tomorrow. We can do it without you."

She didn't want to tell him about her feeling of dread, about her feeling that she had to be there to protect them – to protect him, so she gave him a small smile. "I will be fine."

He stared at her a moment, then nodded and led her back to the hotel still holding her hand. Once they got to her door, she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. You seem to know exactly how to make my nights better," she told him with a smile. She turned to unlock her door.

"Kahlan." She stopped and looked at him. He put a hand on her chin and studied her eyes. He tilted his head down and let his lips embrace hers. It was a slow, passionate kiss. No lust or tongues, just sweet passion. She moaned as his lips withdrew. "Sleep tight," he told her softly, smiled, and walked down the hall.

She watched him leave and sighed as she opened her door. _Like I'll be able to sleep now! Thanks, Aaron!_ She shook her head as she went to get ready for bed.

XXX

Kahlan moaned as she shut off her alarm. She smiled as she realized she had actually slept pretty well. Apparently lying in bed and thinking about Aaron Hotchner led to sleep full of pleasant dreams. She smiled again as she got up and got ready. As she walked down to the little room where breakfast was being served, she still had the feeling of dread in the back of mind, but she felt calm – ready. It was only 7:00, but she wasn't surprised when she saw the most of the team already in the room. They were also several other hotel guests enjoying their meals, so nothing of the days plans was being discussed. Kahlan made herself a cup of hot tea and joined Rossi at a little table.

Rossi was enjoying a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. He gave Kahlan a warm smile. "Hey, you sleep good?"

_What exactly do you know, Dave?_ "Yeah, eventually. You?"

"Like a baby," he told her and took a drink of his coffee.

Hotch walked in, nodded to the team, and made himself a cup of coffee. He joined Rossi and Kahlan with a smile.

"What the hell happened to you?" Rossi asked as he noticed the bruise just sticking out of the top of Hotch's undershirt.

"Don't ask," he told him plainly.

Rossi shot Kahlan a look. "That your fault?" Kahlan moaned and her eyes went to the cup in her hand. He reached over and pulled Hotch's shirt down to get a good look at the damage. There was three inch bruise emitting from the little 'V' at the base of Hotch's throat. Rossi shook his head and looked back at Kahlan. "You do know we're on your side, right?"

"It was an accident," she entreated.

"Well, damn, I'd hate to see what it would look like if it was done on purpose!"

Kahlan put her hand over her eyes and shook her head. "I told him I was sorry," she admitted.

"It's fine," Hotch assured her with a smile.

"Remind me never to piss her off," Rossi joked.

Hotch laughed. They spent another thirty minutes or so in the breakfast room and then they all went to their rooms to prepare to leave. Kahlan was one of the first ones waiting by the SUVs. As the team slowly trickled out of the hotel, she noticed that the only one who wasn't dressed for the occasion was Blake. Kahlan had to remind herself that the woman was a teacher and a linguist. _She'll be in the car approaching on the road anyway, so it doesn't matter that she's wearing a white shirt._ Everyone else was appropriately dressed in dark colors to help cover their approach. _Thank god there're only a few spots left with snow!_ They all climbed in the SUVs and headed to the station to wait for the sheriff and the deputies. They have decided to meet up there to go over the plan one last time and then head out to the staging area, about six miles away from the Holt place and out of view.


	15. Chapter 15

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 15**

While they were waiting for the sheriff, one deputy, the search warrant, and the horses, Hotch introduced the team to the five new deputies who had arrived. When he turned to Kahlan he paused, not sure how to introduce her; he didn't want to tell them that she was one of the missing boys' mother. "Agent Dunmire," Kahlan injected using the same name from the FBI badge she had. Hotch had decided to split up the extra deputies by having two go with Blake and the sheriff, one more would join his group, and added two more to Kahlan's group, giving each group four people. Hotch then went over the plans with the new members and spit them up into their teams. The individual agents then instructed each of the deputies on what they were going to be responsible for.

Kahlan looked the two deputies over. Barns was a young man, just out of the army and an MP to boot. Smith was a little older, but he had served in the marines and had two tours in Iraq under his belt. Kahlan was impressed. They were standing by the open trunk of Barns' cruiser and Kahlan noticed a spotting scope. "Can we use this?" she asked the young man as she picked it up.

"Sure," he said with a puzzling look.

She didn't elaborate, but instead she walked over to Hotch. "Hey, I've got an idea," she told him with a smile. Hotch looked at the scope and waited for her to continue. "My group can go in first, find a nice spot, and do a little recon to let all of you know if anything is going on in your sectors."

"Since you're holding a scope, can I assume you mean to do it from a distance?" He imagined her making her way through a camp and silently killing all the sentries.

She sighed. "Yes. I already promised to stay out of the way unless you need me as back up."

"Sounds good. Having eyes on the buildings to see where everyone is will be better than going in blind."

She smiled. _Anything I can do to keep you all safe._ She went back to her deputies to share the change in plans. She was getting anxious from waiting. She had never been a patient person, and waiting for the sheriff was killing her.

Morgan took the extra time to familiarize Reid with the ATVs that were loaded on a trailer. Hotch almost laughed at the lanky genius as he sat on the huge four wheeler.

The sheriff finally showed up and Kahlan noticed that the horses were already tacked up and was impressed by the fact that each of the horse had a rifle sheath with a rifle in it. The agents didn't have any rifles, and their pistols would do them no good if they needed range. Cook opened the horse trailer and reached in on the first horse and took out the rifle Kahlan was waiting for. He handed it to her; she was impressed. It was semiautomatic, had a scope, and a collapsible bipod. "You can go out back and shoot it a few times to get the feel of it," he told her with a smile. She returned the smile and left to do just that.

Kahlan took a pizza box out of the trash on the side of the station and went around the building. Hotch saw her with the rifle and decide to follow. She drew a line in the ground and paced off 100 yards. She found a large rock and angled the pizza box so its inside cover was open and could be used as a target. She quickly marked an 'x' in the middle of it with a marker from her pocket. She made her way back to the line and laid on the ground.

Hotch observed the whole ritual. He knew there was no reason to ask if she knew how to use the rifle. He could tell she was just as familiar with a gun as she was with her own hands.

She opened the bipod and stretched out to aim at the pizza box. Three shots at two second intervals later, she was up and walking to the target. High and to the right. She adjusted the dials on the scope as she walked back to the line and took three more shots. She shook her head as she realized she had over compensated as the new shots were low and to the left. Hotch smiled at her frustration but kept quiet. Another adjustment of the scope and three more shots revealed only two holes that could be covered up with a quarter. She smiled at the results, picked up the box and headed over to Hotch. She handed him the box.

"Impressive," he told her with a smile.

She knew Hotch held many awards for his ability with his pistol, so she beamed at the compliment. "Had to make sure it was zeroed in. I don't want an errant shot to hurt somebody."

"Hopefully those skills wouldn't be needed today," he told her as they walked back around to join everyone else.

"Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it, as my father always said."

Morgan gave Hotch a look. Hotch handed him the pizza box. "At a hundred yards," Hotch explained. Rossi and Reid also looked over the target.

Morgan whistled. "Damn girl. Who taught you how to shoot?"

Kahlan beamed again. "My daddy." Rossi smiled at that.

"No way. A hundred yards?" Deputy Murphy, Kahlan's other team member, said. "Don't most people zero in a scope at twenty five yards?"

"Not if you're looking for distance," Rossi told him seriously. He looked at Kahlan and pictured her in a gilly suit of a sniper.

JJ started handing out Kevlar vests to the team as the local police did the same. Hotch took one to Kahlan. To Hotch's surprise, she accepted it without argument. She then reached into her bag she had removed from the SUV, and held out her hand to Hotch. He gave her a puzzled look but opened his hand. She let three ear pieces fall into it. "I only have four, but they will be better than the radios the sheriff passed out." Their own comm links wouldn't work so far out with no cell coverage. "They run by satellite," she explained.

He nodded his understanding and called Rossi and Blake over so each team would have one as he put one in his own ear. Rossi raised his brows in surprise at Kahlan. She shrugged as she put one in her ear. "Any other super-secret spy gadgets in that bag of yours?" Rossi jokingly asked as he put his in. Blake followed suit.

"Sorry, I left my laser capable watch back home," she told him with a smile, but Rossi wasn't sure if actually joking or not. "All you do is press on the center to speak," she demonstrated and they heard her voice clearly in their ears.

"Nice," Rossi said with a smile. Blake rolled her eyes, and before Kahlan could say or do anything about the nonverbal, he called for everyone's attention.

Everyone gathered around the card table that was sitting in the street in front of the station, and Hotch went over the plan again. They had the photos spread out across the table and Hotch used them as he explained. Once he was done, and all questions were answered, they all loaded up in the many vehicles and set out to the staging area. The thirty five mile ride would be over before they knew it. Once they were at the staging area, they would split up into their groups and set off on their appointed mode of transportation to await the signal that everyone was ready.

Kahlan rode with Rossi and Hotch, of course, and the two men were silent as they concentrated on the task ahead. The silence was killing Kahlan, though. "Alright, I can't take it. Please turn on the radio," she pleaded with them. Rossi smiled at her and reached up and turned it on. Of course there weren't any stations available. She groaned but remembered her iPod in the glove box. She instructed Rossi on how to plug it in and turn it on.

AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' started playing. _Really? Like I don't already have a bad feeling!_ She groaned. "Please skip that."

Rossi did after she told him how, and Nickelback's 'If Today was Your Last Day' started. It was Hotch's turn to groan as soon as the chorus started. "Keep going," he told Rossi.

Rossi hit the screen, and Rodney Atkins' 'If you're Going Through Hell' began. "Really? Keep going." Kahlan all but yelled from the back seat. Rossi hit the screen again, and the familiar drums from Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight' started. "Oh my God! Just give it here!" she demanded.

Rossi laughed as he handed it to her. She scrolled through the songs and found a completely innocent 'Nice & Slow' by Usher. _Well, maybe not completely innocent,_ she thought with a smile as Rossi shot her a look. Hotch smiled at her through the mirror and she winked at him. The rest of the ride went by without any more foreboding songs or innuendoes and she finally found herself calm and focused.

They arrived at the staging area and unloaded the ATVs and horses. Once everyone was ready, they all set out. Once they reached those, they all waited for Kahlan to reach her spot and let them know about her recon. It took Kahlan and her group the longest to get to their spot because they had to go all the way around and come up to the main place from the back.

Kahlan and her deputies dismounted and took out their rifles. They walked in a crouch as they made their way to the end of the little ridge Kahlan wanted to use for her surveillance. Kahlan sent up a 'thank you' when she noticed several fallen trees that would be perfect for hiding them. Deputy Murphy, or Murph, as Kahlan had taken to calling him, noticed one young boy going into the greenhouse in Hotch's sector. Before Kahlan could get the spotting scope on him to see who he was, the boy was inside. With binoculars, Barns saw one of the young men going into the farthest out building in Rossi's sector. Kahlan used the scope and scanned the rest of the outbuildings and found another boy, who she thought was Michael Jenkins, go into the garage that was also in Hotch's sector. As she got ready to tell everyone what she had seen, Murph nudged her arm. "House," was all he said. Kahlan swung the scope to focus on the house and her breath hitched in her chest.

Coming out of the backdoor were two young children and a young woman. _What the hell!_ She watched the young children run to a little pen that housed a dog. She would have sworn that they little boy called the woman following them 'mommy', by reading his lips. "We have a problem," Kahlan said into the little mic that was sticking out from under her ear and extending about two inches toward her mouth. "I see two little kids, looks like a boy and a girl, maybe three or four years old, and a young woman. They are in the yard behind the house." None of them had known there was going to be other kids living in the house.

"Got it," Rossi told her.

"Hotch, you've got one boy in the greenhouse and one in the garage."

"Understand," is all Hotch said, but smiled mentally at her calling him by his nickname.

"Rossi, you've also got one of the young men in the closest building to you."

"Yep."

"That's it, we don't see any other movement. Well keep an eye out and let you know."

"Alright. Blake go ahead in and try to serve the warrant," Hotch told her through the comm link.

Within minutes Kahlan could see the sheriff's cruiser coming up the road toward the house. While it was still a few miles out, she saw a flurry of movement come from the house. "Two young men jumping in a truck headed your way, Blake."

"Holt's not with them?" Blake asked.

"Not that we've seen."

Hotch noticed Kahlan's tone and made a mental note to keep the two women away from each other in the future. Murph nudged Kahlan again and pointed to Rossi and them approaching from the west. She quickly scanned to the east and saw Hotch's group enter a little barn. Barns, who in charge of keeping an eye on the Sheriff told her that the pickup had stopped and blocked the path of the cruiser. It didn't surprise them, but she was worried about a conflict arising once they knew there was a search warrant. Hotch's group emerged from the little building, apparently not finding anything. Kahlan was concentrating on watching Hotch and JJ as they made their way to another building; she cussed when she realized they split up to also cover the greenhouse.

She jumped as a shot echoed across the valley.


	16. Chapter 16

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 16**

Kahlan's head snapped up; she left the scope lying on the dead tree in front of her. "Did you see where it came from?" she asked the men around her.

"Agent Rossi's team, I think," Murph told her.

She saw Rossi and them taking cover behind different pieces of farm machinery. Another shot rang out and Kahlan saw a puff of smoke emitting from a barrel sticking out of a window aimed at the men. Kahlan grabbed the borrowed rifle, took aim, and was about to squeeze the trigger when another shot rang out from somewhere else. Focusing on the target, Kahlan shot and watched with satisfaction as the stock of the gun exploded into splintered wood, and the barrel was pulled back into the building. With a quick glance she saw Murph taking aim toward Hotch's group. Using the rifle scope, she panned around to see what had Murph's attention. She saw another young man running from the greenhouse, back toward the house. She saw him take another shot at the greenhouse with the pistol in his hand. Murph fired and hit the young man in the forearm, making him lose the pistol. _Nice_, she thought as she quickly scanned back to Rossi and them. Morgan breached the building with the deputy.

"Sheriff's got the men," Barns announced. With a quick look, she saw the deputies handcuffing the two men.

One more shot rang out from Hotch's direction. Kahlan scanned the area but saw nothing. _It must have come from inside the building_, she thought frantically. She wasn't sure who was in which building, until she saw JJ and a deputy escorting the boy from the greenhouse. "Come on," Kahlan told Smith. "You two stay and keep providing cover fire as needed," she told Murph and Barns.

"Here," Murph said as he handed her his glock. Kahlan took it with a nod.

As Kahlan and Smith made their way down the hill towards the big barn another shot rang out. She couldn't tell where it came from, but she saw Rossi and them exit the building with another man in cuffs. The deputy with Rossi was leading the man away as Rossi, Reid, and Morgan made their way to the big building they guessed was a machine shop for tractors and such. Another two shots rang out. That time, though, she was sure it came from Hotch's direction. _Son of a bitch!_

Kahlan and Smith finally made it to the barn and entered it through a little door in the back. They had to take a second for their eyes to adjust to the dim light. Kahlan heard crying and her heart sank. They searched the horse stalls and found a young boy locked in one of them. _Jesus Christ!_ Kahlan thought as she took in the boys battered and bruised body. He was huddled in the corner with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head buried in his knees. "Hey there," she approached him with the kindest voice she muster. Her voice shocked the boy into looking up. He jumped to his feet as soon as he saw the deputy's uniform. Kahlan studied the boy's face. "Damien?" she asked as she got closer to him. The boy nodded enthusiastically. "We're here to take you home," she told him softly as another shot rang out outside making the boy flinch. She knelt down in front of him. "Your mom and dad miss you. They want you to come home," she tried to sooth him. He slammed himself into her, squeezing her neck tightly with both arms as he cried. She held him for a moment and another shot rang out. "Deputy Smith, here, is going to take you out of here, then we're going to get you home, but I need your help first. Can you help me?" The boy nodded. If it wasn't for his cries, Kahlan would have been worried that the boy couldn't speak. "How many other boys are here? Do you know?" She asked him as she held him away from her so she could look him in the eyes.

"I know Mike, Wyatt," he started as Kahlan's heart tried to get into her throat. "Chris and Tommy. I've never been out of the barn, so I don't know. I know there's a guy named Chase, too."

"That's awesome, Damien. Thank you so much," she told him as she passed him off to Smith.

"Gotta watch Chris. He's mean," Damien told her as Smith picked him up. He was much too thin for an eight year old boy.

"Yeah? He like Holt?" With the blank look on his face she changed the question. "Does he help the old man?"

"Yep, but the old man's meaner," he told her through tears.

"Ok." She said with a smile and turned to Smith. "Get him up to Murph and get back down here." The deputy turned to leave and she added, "Be careful."

She quickly cleared the rest of the barn and only found horses and empty stalls. "House is cleared," came Rossi's voice over the comm link. She sighed thankfully at that.

"You got Holt?" She heard Blake ask.

"No, but we have two of the boys in here with the other kids," Rossi explained.

Kahlan emerged from the barn and took one look at the house, she really wanted to go see if Wyatt was one of the found boys, but she decided to go toward where she last saw Hotch. It bothered her that she wasn't hearing his voice on the comm link. She knew the greenhouse was cleared so she carefully approached the other barn.

"We've got Thomas and Joshua," Rossi clarified over the comm link. He knew Kahlan was waiting for word about Wyatt.

Kahlan tried not to think about it as she heard yelling coming from inside the barn. She made her way into the barn and her heart sank. Hotch was lying on the ground, blood pooling under his head. That would have been scary enough, but she almost stopped breathing when she saw Wyatt standing over Hotch. She also saw Chase holding a pistol as he stood over an obviously dead deputy. She noticed, too, that Holt was on the other side of Wyatt. "No! You don't need to hurt him anymore!" Wyatt yelled. Kahlan's heart swelled with pride as she realized Wyatt was standing over Hotch to protect him from Holt.

"Boy, if you don't move, you're gonna end up like that piece of shit!" Holt yelled as he gestured to the deputy.

Kahlan noticed Holt didn't have a weapon as he advanced on her son. She took aim at the only one with a weapon and shot Chase in the hand, making him scream as he dropped the pistol. Holt turned on her and froze as he saw the gun in her hand. Chase went to grab the gun with his other hand. "I wouldn't if I were you, son," Kahlan told him as she aimed at him again. Wyatt's eyes went wide as soon as he saw his mother, but he didn't move from his position by Hotch. Kahlan's eyes locked with Wyatt's for a second, and she was thankful he didn't say anything.

"And what do you think you're gonna do bitch? Shoot us all?" Holt asked as he glanced at Chase.

Chase dove for the weapon, but a bullet to his chest brought him up short. Holt rushed forward while Kahlan was focused on Chase. He slammed into her, and his sheer size and weight knocked her to the ground. Her gun went flying but she kneed Holt in the nuts and got out from under him. Holt got up much quicker than Kahlan would have thought possible for the big older man. "Now what you gonna do?" Holt asked as Kahlan noticed the gun was too far away for her to grab.

Kahlan smiled at the man. "You should just give up now," she warned him.

Holt laughed: a big, full bellied, disgusting laugh. "You think you can hurt me?" He asked hitting himself in the chest with both of his hands as he advanced on her.

Another shot rang out from outside the barn. As soon as Holt glanced toward the shot Kahlan kicked. Her right foot caught him in the sternum causing the air to leave his lungs. He fell to his knees and Kahlan gave him a kick to the side of his head. "You stupid bitch!" Holt yelled as soon as he had the breath to do it.

Kahlan smiled at him again. She wanted to kill the man so bad her soul was aching, but she couldn't outright, not in front of her son. She had to give him a chance to surrender. "Give up?" she asked him in a cocky voice.

He struggled to his feet, but didn't go after Kahlan, instead he turned and advanced on Wyatt. Wyatt screamed and tried to back up but landed on Hotch as his feet tripped over him.

"Don't you touch him!" Kahlan yelled and attacked. She punched him in the armpit as he was reaching out for Wyatt, and he went down again.

Kahlan helped her son up. "Look out!" Wyatt yelled. Kahlan spun and threw the knife that was hidden in her belt. Holt made a few gurgling noises as he fell to the ground with the knife sticking out of his throat. She quickly turned back to Wyatt and scooped him up in a bear hug. She couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face.

Wyatt struggled to get free and she couldn't stop the hurt from showing on her face. "No mom, you gotta help him first," Wyatt told her as he pointed at Hotch. "Chase hit him with a shovel."

Kahlan ran over to Hotch and checked his wound. He had a deep gash going across the back of his head. Kahlan carefully examined the wound with her fingers to see if she could feel any skull fractures. Hotch moaned as her bloody fingers grouped the wound. Kahlan looked around for something to stop the bleeding, seeing none, she told Wyatt to give her his shirt. He pulled the dirty T-shirt off, and tears escaped her eyes as she saw the bruises and scars that covered her son's torso. He gave her the shirt and put his hand on her shoulder. _He's comforting me?_ She held the shirt to Hotch's head and rolled him over. She cleaned the dirt off his face as best she could and noticed to slugs buried in his vest. _Jesus Christ!_

"Hotch?" came Rossi's voice over the comm link. Apparently, everything outside the barn had settled down.

She reached up and keyed the mic. "In the barn, he's wounded," she explained and turned back to her son. "Wyatt, is there any water in here?"

"Yeah. I'll get some," he told her as he ran around the corner.

Kahlan heard the big barn doors open and saw Rossi and Morgan run in. Kahlan noticed the look of extreme fear on Rossi's face as he ran up and knelt down by Hotch. "Damn it, Hotch," he told the unconscious man.

"It's just a flesh wound. I don't think there're any fractures." Morgan came up and knelt down to examine his boss, too.

"Isn't that touching!"

All three of them turned as one and saw a young teen standing there with the pistol. Neither Rossi nor Morgan had their guns drawn. So they all stayed frozen.

"Look, son, you don't want to do anything stupid," Rossi tried to tell him, but an evil smile spread on his face. Rossi glanced at Kahlan.

"Oh, but I think I do," the boy said as he cocked the pistol. Kahlan slowly started to pull herself out from under Hotch's shoulders. "Don't even think about it!" the boy said menacingly. Kahlan froze; she couldn't risk getting one of them shot.

Kahlan noticed Wyatt coming up behind the teen quietly. "You must be Chris," Kahlan said as she tried to keep his attention.

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"I've seen your picture. I've met your mom and dad."

Chris looked at her coldly. "My dad's right there, bitch!" he yelled as he pointed at Holt. "Which one of you. . ."

He was stopped short and crumpled to the ground. Wyatt was standing behind him with a two by four in his hands. Rossi and Morgan both released the breath they'd been holding. Wyatt smiled at his mom. "I've been wanting to that for a very long time," he told her seriously.

Rossi actually laughed. "Like mother, like son?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah." Kahlan told him with a giant grin. She motioned for Wyatt to come over. She put an arm around his waist. "Dave, Derek, meet my son, Wyatt."

Rossi stuck his hand out, but Wyatt looked at it warily. Kahlan nodded to him and he finally took Rossi's hand and shook it with a small smile. The boy was obviously not that comfortable around men, and after Holt, who could blame him.

Morgan got up and went to handcuff Chris before he could wake up and cause any more problems.

"Medics are in route," Blake told the comm link.

Kahlan took off Hotch's vest and ripped his shirt open. Two more bruises joined his earlier bruise. Finally, Hotch's eyes started fluttering. He moaned as his hand went to his head.

Rossi grabbed it to stop him from hurting the wound more. "It's about time you wake your lazy ass up," Rossi joked.

Hotch tried to focus the three images of Rossi he was seeing into one. "Yeah? What were you doing, having coffee in the house?" Morgan shook his head and Kahlan laughed. Hotch got a stricken look on his face as he remembered what happened before he was knocked out. "The boy?"

"Right here," Wyatt told him as he moved into Hotch's view. Hotch visibly relaxed and smiled up at Wyatt, and Wyatt smiled back. "You saved me." Wyatt told Hotch reverently. Kahlan looked at her son questioningly. "Chase was gonna shoot me, but he jumped in front of me," Wyatt explained.

Kahlan smiled down at Hotch. "Thank you," she told him tenderly.

Hotch looked from the boy to the woman and back again. _Yep, same eyes._ "You must be Wyatt."

Wyatt smiled and put his arm around his mother's shoulders.

Rossi stood up. "Let's get you out of the dirt," he told Hotch. Both he and Morgan grabbed his shoulders and drug him to a big wooden work bench. Kahlan cleared it with a swipe of her hand and then helped Rossi and Morgan lift Hotch onto it. Wyatt grabbed the bucket of water from where he had sat it before hitting Chris. Kahlan took off her vest and then ripped a piece of her shirt off, stuck it in the water, rung it out, and started wiping the dirt off Hotch's face.

While she continued, she looked at Rossi. "I only heard of six boys being found." Rossi nodded. Kahlan pursed her lips. That meant two were still unaccounted for.

"You got him?" Morgan asked her nodding to Hotch.

"Of course," she told him with a smile. Morgan nodded and went to Chris. He picked up the boy easily, threw him over his shoulder, and left the barn. Rossi patted Hotch on the arm and followed Morgan.

Kahlan cleaned more of Hotch's face, but he grabbed her hand to stop her. "How's everyone else?"

Kahlan shook her head. "I don't know. I came in here before everything settled down outside." She could see the worry on his face. "If you promise to stay laid down, I'll go check."

He smiled. "Go."

"Wyatt, will you stay with him?" Kahlan asked her son. She wasn't sure if he wanted to or not with the way he acted toward Morgan and Rossi.

He looked at Hotch and smiled. "Yeah."

Kahlan smiled at him and pulled him into another hug. She let go of him and quickly ran out of the barn.

Wyatt watched Hotch; he wasn't sure what to make of the man. "Why would you do that?"

Hotch turned his head to look at the boy. He winced as he noticed the wounds on Wyatt's chest. "Do what?"

"Jump in front of me? Why would you do that for someone you don't even know?"

Hotch smiled. "Because it's my job. Me and my friends work to save people just like you all the time."

Wyatt looked at him skeptically. Hotch had the feeling the boy was profiling him just like his mother had done. "You know my mom?"

"Yeah. She's the reason we're here. She never stopped looking for you, but she couldn't find you on her own, so she came to me and my friends for help."

Wyatt stared at him as he tilted his head a little. "You like her."

Hotch noticed it wasn't a question. _He is profiling me!_ Hotch took a deep breath; he wasn't sure how to reply to the obviously intelligent boy standing in front of him. He had the feeling Wyatt's bright blue eyes were reading his soul. "Your mom's very nice." _Hah! A perfectly neutral answer._

Wyatt regarded him some more and then smiled. "She likes you."

Hotch couldn't stop the shock from showing on his face. "Why do you think that?"

Wyatt raised his eyebrows as if to say 'really?' and then laughed a little. "She looks at you the same way she used to look at my dad. I've seen pictures"

Kahlan came back into the barn. _Thank God!_ Hotch thought as soon as he saw her. She studied the two males for a moment and then smiled. "Reid got grazed by a bullet; only a scratch," she clarified before Hotch could ask. "Deputy Hanes got shot in the arm, but he'll be fine, too. Everybody else we came in with is fine. Well, except Hank," She added with a look at the dead deputy. Hotch nodded. He wasn't going to ask her about the boys, not in front of Wyatt. "What happened in here?" she asked them both.

"Hank entered first, and he was shot down before I even had a chance to clear the doorway. Then I came in. I walked along the wall. I could hear someone yelling."

"The old man was yelling at me. I was trying to get to the guy on the ground. He finally shoved me over to him, and when I stood up and turned around, Chase was pointing his gun at me," Wyatt swallowed hard. "He told me he was going kill me, and that's when he jumped in front of me," he told her as he pointed at Hotch.

"My vest stopped the slugs, but I was falling. Then, Holt grabbed me by the collar. He shook me and then he pushed me back. That when I got hit from behind."

"Chase hit you with a shovel," Wyatt told him.

"Don't I know it," Hotch joked as he put a hand to his head. "What happened when you came in?" He asked Kahlan. He had seen Holt's and Chases' bodies lying on the ground.

"I saw Wyatt standing over you, protecting you from Chase."

"Chase still wanted to shoot him," Wyatt explained.

Hotch looked at boy with wonder.

"I disarmed Chase and gave him a chance to give up. He didn't take it," she told him simply. "Neither did Holt."

Hotch eyed her, he knew she wasn't telling the whole story.

"The old man attacked my mom," Wyatt told him.

"Really?" Hotch asked him. It didn't surprise him, though.

"Mom told him to stop, but he just laughed at her. Then he came after me, and mom took care of him then."

Hotch nodded his understanding. She only used the force necessary to protect her son, just like she promised.

They heard several vehicles approaching, so Kahlan went outside to call one of the medics over to the barn. They had Hotch loaded up in one ambulance no time, and they put the wounded deputy in with him. Rossi knew there would be a lot of paperwork to fill out on the boys, but he didn't think the boys would want him riding with them, so he jumped in the SUV to follow both of the ambulances. The boys didn't mind Kahlan, though, so she rode with the five boys who hadn't helped in the fight.

Chris was going in the cruisers with the other young men after the medic patched them up. The sheriff took them into town to the station. He knew there was going to be a big mess with these young men who grew up with Holt after their abductions, but they were still responsible for the crimes they had committed that day. Cook actually felt sorry for the young men in the beginning, but when he heard that one of them had shot his deputy, all he wanted to do was pass them off to the state boys that would be coming to get them later in the day. Holt's wife was also arrested, and the young woman and her kids were escorted off the property.

They still had several things that needed to be done at the ranch.


	17. Chapter 17

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 17**

The movement of the ambulance over the uneven dirt road rocked its passengers. Kahlan looked around at the five boys riding with her. She couldn't help it, but her mind immediately went to 'The Lord of the Flies', a book she had read in middle school. While the boys in front of her weren't a pack of wild kids, the lost look in their eyes couldn't be missed. They were all quiet, and except for a few glances around the ambulance, they all kept their eyes on the floor. Her heart cried because she knew each of these boys had been broken, and she wasn't sure if they would ever be whole again. She sat on one side with her arm around Wyatt. Damien sat on her other side and he kept getting closer, so Kahlan but her arm around him, too. Across from Kahlan was Tommy. While he wasn't the only thirteen year old boy in the vehicle, he certainly was the leader. When he actually looked at Kahlan, she saw kind eyes. He had his arms protectively around Josh and Mike. She didn't know if any of the other boys knew if she was Wyatt's mom or not. Normally the resemblance couldn't be missed, but all these boys looked enough alike that they could easily pass for brothers. She felt her anger rise as she knew that was the plan. _Have a bunch of boys that look alike and no one would question it. Fucking asshole!_ She wished she had the power of resurrection. If she did, she would resurrect Holt just so she could kill him again – slowly and painfully. She wanted to tell the boys to be happy, that they were going home, but the day had been too overwhelming already; and she wasn't sure if they all remembered home anyway, so they road in silence, and tears quietly made their way down her cheeks.

When the ambulance eventually made it to the hospital, the boys filed out to the waiting arms of five female nurses. Kahlan noticed immediately the maternal nature and love in their eyes. She also saw Rossi standing by the door and she smiled at him. She knew he must have picked out the best nurses to handle the boys and he had done a damn good job. The nurses didn't barrage the boys with questions or a lot of attention; they just quietly took one boy each and lead them inside with quiet reassurances and affection. Wyatt looked at back his mom. "Go ahead; I'll be there in a moment." He nodded and went with his nurse. Kahlan walked up to Rossi.

He put his hand on her cheek and wiped a tear away with his thumb. "You ok, kiddo?"

She smiled at him and the term of endearment she hadn't heard since she was young coming from her own father. "I will be, but I'm not sure about them."

Rossi looked toward the door like he could still see the boys. "Yeah. It will take some time, but they will make it. If they survived all that, they can survive anything."

"I just hope they haven't been broke beyond repair."

He led her inside. "I don't think so. If they were beyond repair, they would have been like Chris."

She considered that, and a small smile crossed her lips. She marveled at how well Rossi could read the kids, and she wondered why he never had any of his own. She knew he would make a wonderful father, and maybe that was why he clung to the team's kids. He was the perfect grandpa to them even if he wasn't related to them. Again, she marveled at the closeness of the team. As they got closer to the ER rooms, they could hear Hotch's voice; while he wasn't yelling, they could clearly hear the threat in it.

"No. I do not need to stay overnight. I don't care. No, you will not." They could hear Hotch saying.

Rossi shook his head and went to his room. With a smile, Kahlan followed. "Hotch, what are you doing?" Rossi asked him. Hotch was standing up, hospital gown on over his jeans, and he looked like he was about ready to kill someone with his glare.

Hotch turned to Rossi. "Dave, tell them I am not staying overnight for observations. That I am perfectly fine to leave," Hotch demanded.

"Sir, your cat scan shows a concussion. You need to be watched. You haven't even been stitched up yet," a male nurse pleaded with him and looked to Rossi for help.

"Aaron, sit down and shut up, and let the poor man do his job," Kahlan told him in her 'I'm the mom, that's why' tone. Rossi gave her a grin.

Hotch looked at her and sighed heavily, but he sat down and glared at the nurse. "You can stitch me up, but I am not staying."

"I'll go get the doctor," the nurse said and then left.

"Hotch, are you crazy? That bump on your head loosen a few things?" Rossi asked him. Hotch glared at him. "You can't go running around with the back of your head ripped open."

"I told him he could stitch it," Hotch told him simply. Rossi shook his head again. He knew Hotch was way too stubborn for his own good sometimes. "It's just a scratch."

"Yeah, then how come I could put my fingers in it and feel your skull?" Kahlan asked as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"When did you do that?" Hotch asked, clearly surprised.

"While you were still unconscious, which that right there should tell you it was bad if it knocked you out." She shook her head.

"It knocked me out?" Hotch asked, suddenly a little unsure of himself.

"You don't remember?" Rossi asked with concern. Kahlan was suddenly a little scared, too.

"I saved that boy," Hotch started. They could tell he was trying to piece everything together. Kahlan was even more scared. He had had a conversation with Wyatt for Christ's sake. "I remember something about coffee. What the hell would coffee have anything to do with it?" He asked as he sank further into the bed. He ran a hand down his face.

Kahlan sat beside him and took one of his hands in hers. "It's alright. You got hit pretty hard." She tried to relieve some of the stress she could tell was building in him.

"Yeah, you'll be fine with a little rest," Rossi told him. With a glance at Kahlan he left to find the doctor.

"You don't remember Wyatt?" Kahlan asked him quietly.

His eyes darted around as he searched his memory and then he looked at Kahlan. He could tell by the look on her face that her son was alright, and he could tell he must have met the boy, but he just couldn't remember. "Was he the one in the barn?"

She winced. "Maybe you should lay down," she suggested.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. The slight headache he had was turning into an all-out explosion in his skull. Kahlan got up and patted the bed. He sighed heavily but laid down. He knew he was missing something important about the boy, and he wondered what else he was missing. He locked eyes with her. "Tell me," he pleaded.

She told him the story of everything that had happened in the barn as she watched his face. "Then you and Wyatt had a conversion while I was out checking on everyone else, but I don't know what you all said."

He wrinkled his brow. "Why was I thinking something about coffee?"

She laughed. "That was real."

"Huh?"

"When you finally woke up, Dave gave you shit about being lazy and sleeping on the job. Then you gave him shit about taking a coffee break in the house."

He smiled a little. "Sounds like us."

A doctor came in with a suture kit and asked Kahlan to step out. She let go of Hotch's hand, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and told him she was going to go check on the boys. On her way out of the room, she stopped to look at the doctor. "Don't let him try and tell you he remembers what happened. I just told him the story."

The doctor smiled and she looked at Hotch. He gave her feigned mean look; she just smiled and left.

The boys were taking turns being x-rayed, getting their wounds cleaned, and being photographed. They needed the evidence for the case against Holt's wife and the young men. While the boys still seemed reserved, their moods were a little lighter. Kahlan figure the more time they spent around other people and away from that ranch, the better off they would be. She found Wyatt sitting in a chair by himself. "Hey, you." She sat down next to him and a smile grew on his face.

"I knew you'd find me."

Kahlan knew he wasn't referring to right then in the hospital. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. That's what I kept telling all of the other boys. I told them 'my mom will find me, and then we'll all get to go home," he told her truthfully. Kahlan marveled at her son's loyalty and trust in her, and she started crying. He put his arms her waist. "What's wrong? I shouldn't have said that?"

"No, it's not that. That was very brave of you. I'm just sad it took me so long." She got up and kneeled in front of him to look him in the eyes. "I tried, Wyatt. I tried my hardest, but I just couldn't find you immediately," she told him through her tears. "I am so sorry. You were living with that monster, and he was hurting you, and I. . . I couldn't find you for so long. I am so sorry."

Wyatt pulled her into a hug. "It's ok, mom. You found us and that's what matters. I never thought you gave up on me, never!" They held each other tightly and they both cried.

A few tears fell down Rossi's face as he witnessed the scene from down the hall. He took a deep breath and smiled. He knew they would be alright, and he was proud to have been part of the team that reunited the boy with his mother.

XXX

An older couple volunteered to open up their home for the boys and the agents, and it was big enough to accommodate them all if they doubled up. They accepted and after two days of treatment, interviews, and counseling the boys finally had time to just be boys. Garcia had shown up the day after the raid. "They haven't had anyone to spoil them in a long time, and I don't care if I know them or not, I cannot let those little men go any longer without toys!" She told JJ as she arrived in Wyoming with several boxes. All of the boys immediately fell in love with the colorful, happy woman. Hotch figured that Garcia was probably the strangest woman they had ever seen, but kids loved her and her quirkiness. He smiled at the thought of her being their fairy godmother. The boys were busy throwing a football, or playing hand held video games, or playing with the toys. The town also took up a collection to get them all a few new outfits. If Hotch hadn't known what the boys had been through, he would have thought the scene in the yard belonged to one big happy family.

The next day, the boys were finally reunited with their parents. It was a tearful reunion for everyone involved. JJ even noticed Morgan sheading a few tears. Garcia had set the boys up a facebook page so they could keep in touch, and she gave them a print out of it and made sure they understood how to use it. She also made sure she was part of the private page so she could keep in touch with them, too. Then slowly each of the boys said good bye to the agents and each other and got into their parents' vehicles to head back to their lives and try to pick where they left off. The parents thanked Kahlan and the team profusely for finding their sons, and Hotch was surprised that the Jenkins were even genuinely happy to see Mike. Hotch had to admit he was worried about them. _And worried what Kahlan would do to them if they didn't respond well enough to meet her expectations._

Unfortunately, two families didn't have a happy reunion. The CSI unit had found the graves of the two boys plus another three boys whose ages ranged from early childhood to late teens. DNA tests matched Kyle and Devin, but the other boys were not in the system. The whole team was devastated to learn that three more families were missing boys, but all they could do is submit their findings in to the database for Missing and Exploited Children.

Kahlan and the team met Kyle's and Devin's families, and they tried to explain what had happen to their sons. While the families weren't happy, at least they could bury their sons and try to move on with their lives. They thanked Kahlan and the agents and left to go receive their sons' remains.

By the end of it all, Kahlan and Wyatt were the only ones left with the team. Kahlan and Hotch were sitting on a bench watching Reid teach Wyatt a few magic tricks. Hotch noticed that Wyatt was a very fast learner, and Reid was extremely pleased. As soon as Hotch had seen Wyatt, he had remembered their conversation. Hotch thought it was because Wyatt's eyes could see into him, but he never told anyone.

"I guess I'll rent a car and drive home tomorrow," Kahlan told him.

That caught him off guard. While he knew that they wouldn't be able to stay together every day, he hadn't really thought that she would be leaving so soon. Other than the kiss she gave his forehead, they hadn't shared anything but casual contact and conversation since the raid. Hotch didn't want to think about what he had thought of as the beginning of a relationship and where it might have been headed. She obviously didn't feel the same. _Had it all been a lie? Could I have been so wrong?_ "I, see."

"Well, we can't stay here, and Collin's family is dying to see Wyatt."

"I'm sure," he agreed.

JJ walked into the yard. "Hey, Hotch, the Wyoming DA needs to speak with you," Hotch got up to take the call leaving Kahlan to watch him leave.


	18. Chapter 18

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 18**

After everyone else was turned in for the night, Kahlan softly knocked on Hotch's door. She smiled when she realized he wasn't in his sleeping clothes yet. "Would you take a walk with me?"

Hotch looked at her for a moment then finally nodded. He grabbed his coat and followed her out of the house and onto the street silently.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Why do you think something is wrong?"

"Because you haven't said two words to me since this afternoon." She stopped and pulled on his arm to make him look at her. "Did you think I wouldn't go home?"

Hotch bit his lip to stop himself from saying what he really wanted to. "I know you need to take Wyatt home," he told her instead.

"Well, yeah. I can't not go back to Reliance and let them see him. Besides I can't pack if I'm not there," she told him as she started walking again.

He watched her take a couple steps down the street. "Wait! What?" He asked her and caught up with her.

She flicked her eyebrows up quickly and smiled at him. "You didn't hear me or you didn't understand me?"

"What do you mean pack?"

"I can't move if I don't actually pack. You know, that normally comes first. Unless of course you know some other way," she teased him.

His mind and his heart were racing. _Is she trying to tell me what I think she is?_ "And where would you be moving to?"

She smiled and kept walking. He took a long stride and caught up with her again. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Actually, Garcia helped me find this nice little house outside Quantico. Great neighborhood, great schools. Maybe you've heard of it, Rambling Woods?"

His heart started beating even faster. "Yeah, I know that place well. You'll like it there." He told her as his dimples showed up with a big smile.

_Those damn dimples! _Kahlan felt her own heart racing. "You think me and my son will be a welcomed addition?"

"Oh yeah, they'll love you."

"You don't think that our past will be a problem for them?"

He stopped her and looked her in the eyes. "Nah, everybody has a past."

She looked into his eyes and saw the dark orbs almost glowing with passion and desire. "If you're sure they'll give us try."

"Oh, I'm sure," he told her and pulled her into a deep kiss. She leaned in to deepen the kiss, not able to hide her own desire.

After a few moments they had to come up for air. "You know," she started with a seductive smile. "I still have my room at the hotel."

Hotch moaned with the thought. "What about Wyatt?" he asked as he looked back to the house.

"He's actually staying with Dave tonight. I told Dave that I needed to talk to you, and he decided to teach Wyatt how to play Grand Theft Auto."

_God, I love you, Dave!_ Hotch thought as he smiled at her. "Remind me to get him a bottle of his favorite scotch." He leaned in and gave her another kiss, a kiss filled with lust as his tongue slid across her bottom lip begging for entry. She complied and their tongues battled for dominance over the kiss.

Kahlan groaned as she felt Hotch's madhood press up against her. She finally pulled herself away from him and grabbed his hand. They were only a few blocks from the hotel. "Come on," she said as she pulled him along.

Hotch felt like a teenager sneaking out his parents' house.

Kahlan couldn't get the door open fast enough. They were kissing and pulling off their coats at the same time. Hotch used his leg to reach back and shut the door behind them. They were kicking off shoes and making their way towards the bed. The back of Kahlan's knees connected with it and she fell backwards, pulling Hotch with her. He laughed at her trapped beneath him. "Oh yeah?" she asked and stealthfully reversed the situation. She laughed at his look of surprise. "You ok? I don't want you to hurt your head," she told him with a smile.

He groaned and pulled her down to kiss her again. She started trailing kisses down his neck and nibbled on is ear. With moans of pleasure escaping him, she felt his manhood growing against her thigh. She nuzzled his head to the side and bit down onto the bump of his skull behind his ear. She felt him quiver and giggled into his ear. She tore at his shirt, trying to untuck it, but he stopped her. She pulled back and looked at him questioningly. "What?"

He wasn't sure how to tell her about the scars Foyet had left him with. He knew it shouldn't matter, but he was very self-conscious about them. He had never let anyone see them; there had never been a reason to. He and Beth had never gotten that far, and he'd even tried to keep them hidden from Jack. Now that he was faced with sharing them with someone, he wasn't sure how to handle it.

She sat up to study his face. She thought she knew what was bothering him. She'd known he had been attacked by Foyet, and the report had said he had been stabbed nine times. "Anyone with a past has scars, Aaron," she told him as she pulled off her own shirt. Hotch noticed the scars on her. A long thin one across her abdomen looked like a knife wound, and the two circular ones: one on her chest and one on her shoulder, looked like bullet wounds. "They fade with time, but they will always be a part of you. If you can't accept them, then you'll never accept yourself," she told him tenderly as she pulled his shirt up. She almost laughed. With the way he was acting she would have thought the scars to be hideous or something, but they weren't. They just added another layer to the sexy man laying beneath her. She pulled the shirt over his head and started trailing kisses down his neck and onto his chest. She kissed and bit him, leaving a trail of marks down him to claim him as her own, but safely hidden from the public eye. Hotch moaned with the pleasure of it. He'd always done that to Haley, and he found it to be a very tantalizing feeling, knowing that he was being marked by an alpha female – someone who matched his alpha male so perfectly. His hands ran through her hair as her fingers dug into his flesh.

She sat up again and started to undo his belt, but stopped. It was his turn to give her a questioningly look. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked him seriously. She could feel him aching with need but she also knew what type of a man he was. She wanted him to be sure. She knew that she wanted to share herself with him, but she didn't want to push him into it either.

It was his turn to flip them over. She laughed. "It's been a really long time, but yes, I think I'm ready for this," he told her honestly as he looked into her eyes. "If you are."

She pulled him down and gave him a passionate kiss. When he pulled away for air she smiled at him. "It's been a long time for me, too. But I think I can handle you," she teased as she undid his belt and his pants. She couldn't hold back the need any longer. Felling her need increased his own, and he stood up to take over getting his own clothes off while she did the same.

Hotch looked down at her, breathing heavily, her face flushed with desire; and he marveled at the perfectly toned body laying on the bed in front of him. He noticed more scars, too, but they just attested to what her body was capable of and that made him almost shake with his desire for her. "You are an amazing woman Kahlan Hunter," he told her as joined her in bed.

XXX

As the finally came down from their emotional and physical high, they laid curled in each other's arms, their breathing and hearts moving in rhythm. She didn't want to move from his embrace, but she knew neither one of them wanted to have to explain spending the night somewhere beside the house. So she rolled over to face him and kissed him. "We better get up and get back to the house."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I just didn't want to move. This was too nice."

She smiled. "Extremely! Gives us something to look forward to, though."

He smiled at that, and his dimples almost made her forget about wanting to get back. "How long do you think you'll be?"

She got up and started to get dressed. "I wouldn't think it would take more than a couple of weeks."

That surprised him as he, too, got dressed. _How can she buy a house and move in two weeks?_ He wondered but didn't ask. They would have plenty of time to talk later. "Are you going to need help packing and moving? Maybe I could get some time off."

"Not in Reliance, but I'll definitely need some able bodied men on the Virginia end." She told him as she put her socks and shoes back on.

"Oh, I think I can find a couple of those for you," he told her with a smile.

Once they were completely dressed, he held her coat out for her. She accepted it with a smile and waited for him to put his own on. They silently exited the hotel and walked back to the house hand in hand. They kissed goodnight before even sneaking back into the house and to their rooms. Rossi heard two doors shut and looked at his watch. _Who the hell is up at 4:17?_ He wondered, but let himself fall back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 19**

The next morning Mrs. Hanson made one last breakfast for her house guests. Rossi entered the dining room and noticed that Hotch hadn't come down yet. They still had two hours before the jet would take them back to Quantico, but he was surprised that Hotch had slept in. Everyone was busy eating and enjoying casual conversation and Wyatt smiled at Rossi as he joined them at the table. Kahlan poured him a cup of coffee and handed him the cup. "Thank you," he told her with a smile.

"No problem," she said as she returned the smile. "Wyatt tells me you're a mean gamer."

Rossi smiled at the boy. "He's just being generous. He kicked my but most of the time."

"I thought you said you had never played the game before?" Morgan asked him. He knew Rossi was good, and if Wyatt had beaten him, Wyatt must be really good.

"I hadn't, but I got the hang of it pretty fast," Wyatt admitted.

"He's always had a way with games and computers," Kahlan told them with a proud smile.

"Do you play chess?" Reid asked him.

"No. Is it fun?" Wyatt asked.

Morgan and Rossi laughed. Reid shot them a look. "It a game about strategies, and, yes, it can be fun," Reid told him enthusiastically.

JJ rolled her eyes. "You just think it's fun because you always win," she pointed out.

"Don't listen to them. I'll teach you some time." Reid suspected that Wyatt was smarter than the average nine year old, and he was actually looking forward to it.

"Sure. I like learning new things."

"You play chess?" Rossi asked Kahlan. He knew she was smart and would probably give Reid a run for his money.

She smiled. "Not since I was young."

Reid looked at her excitedly. "You'll have to play me on the computer sometime."

She just smiled at him. None of them knew she was going to move to Virginia except Garcia, and she swore her to secrecy.

Hotch finally came down and told everyone 'good morning' as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Rossi noticed the quick glance he gave Kahlan, but no one else did. Rossi smiled. He knew Kahlan was going to talk to him the night before, but he didn't know what about. He had been worried, but after he saw the smile on his friend's face he knew things didn't go badly. He also would have sworn that it was them who didn't get back to their rooms until after four that morning, but he couldn't be sure. He knew he would have to have a talk with his friend once they were on the jet.

"Well, we better go get packed up, buddy. We got a long drive ahead of us," Kahlan told her son as she got up. He picked up his plate and took it and his mother's to the kitchen. She waited for him and they headed up stairs.

"You better watch it, Pretty Boy. I think that kid is gonna be smarter than you," Morgan told him with a grin.

Reid looked shocked. "You think so?"

"Oh yeah. His IQ was already 110 in the first grade," Garcia told him with a smile. Rossi gave her a questioningly look. "I checked his school records," she told him innocently.

Hotch just shook his head at her.

XXX

Hotch threw his go bag in the SUV and walked up to Kahlan as she put her bag in the little Chevy Spark. He laughed at the little car. "You find this at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box?"

"Hey! I think it's cute!"

"It's too small for someone my height."

"You would look kind of funny sitting behind the wheel," she admitted as she shut the back door. "That place didn't have a big selection."

"I bet," he told her as he looked around to make sure no one could see them. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. She returned it with passion as she gripped his shirt in her fist. He moaned against her lips as memories of the night before came into his mind. He finally pulled back when his need for air made sparks flash in his head. She moaned as they lost connection, but smiled up at him. He smiled back at her. "You think two weeks?" She nodded as he pulled her into an embrace. "That's going to feel like forever, you know?"

"Tell me about it!" she told him as she pulled away from him just in time as Wyatt came around the SUV.

"Mom, you ready?" He stopped as soon as he saw that Hotch was with her. "Oops, I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly," she told him with a smile. "I want to go in and tell everyone good bye." She told him and started back to the house leaving Wyatt with Hotch.

Wyatt smiled at him as if he knew exactly what they had been doing. Hotch swallowed hard. He wasn't sure what to make of the boy yet. "Mr. Rossi says you have a son too?"

Hotch smiled. "Yep, Jack's eight."

"Cool," is all he said as he studied Hotch some more.

Hotch shuffled his feet and wondered if Beth had felt this awkward when she first spent time with Jack. He was about to go back to the house when he saw Kahlan emerge again. He opened the car door for her as Wyatt climbed into the back seat. "Text me when you get home."

"I will. Call me later this week, when you have time," she told him and shut the door.

He watched her drive away and found himself already missing her. He rubbed the back of his neck as he went back to the house.

XXX

Hotch was sitting in the back of the jet looking out the window. Rossi thought he was being much too quiet, so he decided to join him. Hotch didn't even notice him sit down, so Rossi cleared his throat. It startled Hotch and he looked at Rossi with surprise. "What's on your mind?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"Do you think I'm crazy, Dave?"

"That depends on what you're talking about."

"You know who I'm talking about," Hotch told him as he looked to see if anyone was within hearing distance.

"Did you go and elope or something?"

"What? No! Why would you ask that?"

"Well, that's one crazy thing I can think of you doing," Rossi told him with a laugh at the look on Hotch's face.

"Are you going to quit your job and move to Reliance?"

"No!"

"You plan on marrying her before the end of the month?"

"No! What the hell, Dave?"

"Well, if you were going to one of those things, I would consider you crazy. Since you're not, I guess you're sane," he told him with a grin. Hotch shook his head. "What has you worried?"

"This whole thing. What's a woman like Kahlan see in a guy like me?"

"A guy like you? You mean a guy who has a great career, a guy who is an awesome father, a guy that is a perfect gentleman, a guy whose loyalty and friendship are beyond reproach, a. . ."

"Alright, Dave"

"I was wondering when you were going to stop me. I was running out of ideas," Rossi told him with a laugh. "Damn, Aaron, do you think you could eventually love her?"

Hotch considered him a moment. "Yes. I think I could," he told him seriously.

"Does she feel the same about you?"

"I think so." He nodded.

"Then what the hell is the problem?"

Hotch looked at him. "I don't know."

"Don't you think that you deserve to be happy or something? Cause you do. With everything you have been through, you deserve to finally find someone who can make you happy, Aaron." Rossi could tell by the look on Hotch's face that he wasn't sure he agreed, so Rossi decided to turn the tide a little. "Do you think Jack will like her?"

That made Hotch smile. "Yeah. I think Jack would love her."

"Is it Wyatt your worried about? Cause if it is, I think he really likes you."

Hotch gave him a shocked look. "How can you tell? When he looks at me I feel like he can see right through me."

Rossi smiled at him. "Well, he told me for one, and of course he looks at you like that. It is his mom we're talking about. The bond between a mother and her son is different than any other bond. It was probably a little strange for him. He can probably tell you two like each other but yet you were keeping it hidden. He's probably trying to figure out what your intentions are."

"He told you he liked me?"

Rossi laughed. "Well, he said you were 'cool', but I got the feeling he likes you. What do you think Jack would think of him."

Hotch took a moment to think about that. "Those other boys seemed to really like Wyatt, and the team seems to like him. I don't know why Jack wouldn't."

"Then what's the problem? Spend some time together, so you all can get to know each other. See where it leads. What harm can there be in that?"

"None, I guess." Hotch told him with a grin. "She did say she's moving to Virginia."

Rossi smiled. "I figured as much."

"You think I should ask her about her past before I let myself fall any farther?"

Rossi pursed his lips. "You think it will make a difference on how you feel?"

"I don't think so, but I really don't know anything about her. How can I fall for somebody I don't really know?"

"Because it's not her past that you have fallen for. It's her."

Hotch looked at his friend. "When did you become an expert on women?"

"When you've been around as much as I have, you pick up a thing or two." Hotch laughed. "But if her past is so important to you, then I suggest you ask her about the next time you talk. That way you'll know for sure if it will change the way you feel about her."

Hotch nodded. Rossi was right, of course.

XXX

Two days later, Hotch and Jack were at the park. Hotch had talked to Jack about Kahlan and her son moving near them, and Jack was excited to meet Wyatt. Jack had met Kahlan briefly as she hid them away in the hotel, and all he said about her was that he thought she was pretty and wanted to know if his daddy thought she was, too. Hotch laughed at that, but agreed with his son. "Look, Daddy, I want to learn how to do that," Jack told him as he pointed across the park to a boy doing tricks with a soccer ball.

"Yeah. That would be cool to learn, huh?" Hotch told him as he squinted to try to get a better look at the boy across the park. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn it was Wyatt. The boy's hair was shorter, though, so he just shook it off and went back to playing frisbee with his son.

After a few minutes Jack noticed a woman sneaking up behind his daddy. He didn't say anything because he saw her put her finger to her lips. He just smiled and kept playing. As soon as Kahlan was close enough and Jack threw the frisbee to Hotch, she jumped out and caught it before Hotch had a chance.

"Too slow!" She told him as she turned to face him.

Hotch just stood there, shocked.

"Geeze, Jack. I think I might have broke him," she teased. Jack laughed at the look on his dad's face.

Hotch blinked a few times as if he was trying to figure out if she was actually standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?" Is all he managed to ask.

"It is a public park, isn't it?" Jack laughed again, and Kahlan tossed him the frisbe.

Hotch shook his head. "Yeah, but. . . When. . . Why?" he stammered.

"Yep. You broke him," Jack agreed because he had never seen his father like that before.

"We flew in last night. I wanted to show Wyatt the area to get his opinion before we actually moved."

"He's here?"

"Yeah, he's right over there playing with his ball," she told him as she pointed to the boy Jack had seen, and she called him over. Wyatt ran up with a smile.

Hotch noticed the look on Jack's face. "Wyatt, this is my son, Jack," Hotch introduced him.

"Where did you learn how to kick the ball around like that?" Jack asked.

Wyatt smiled. "My mom taught me," he told him with a nod to Kahlan.

Hotch's surprise matched Jack's and Kahlan laughed. "No, I just showed him a few tricks. He has taken it to a whole new level."

"Want me to show you?" Wyatt asked Jack.

Jack was so excited that he couldn't talk, so he nodded enthusiastically.

Kahlan and Hotch both smiled as they watched their sons run off to play. "Well, that went a lot easier than I had thought it would be," Kahlan confessed.

Hotch laughed. "All it took was a black and white ball."


	20. Chapter 20

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 20**

Kahlan and Hotch sat on a bench and watched their boys play. Wyatt was showing Jack some of his tricks and to Jack's surprise; Jack was picking them up pretty easily. Hotch looked at the woman beside him. "So why are you really here?"

She laughed. "Well, knowing the type of parents we both are, I figured we had to get our sons' approval before we moved any further."

Hotch knew the truth of that, and he was glad to see that Kahlan felt the same.

"And I did want Wyatt to see what it was like here. He seemed a little unsure of it when I was describing it to him; he has lived his whole life in Reliance."

Hotch laughed as he remembered the little town. "Did he play soccer there?"

"No, they don't have stuff for kids around there."

"So you really taught him to play?"

"Don't sound so shocked. I can play softball and football, too."

He smiled as he laughed some more. "There are so many things I don't know about you."

"Aren't we supposed to learn things about each other as we spend time together? Or are you referring to a certain promise I made?"

"Yes and yes."

"Well, the park isn't exactly a place to discuss that, but Garcia said she'd watch Wyatt if you want to talk tonight."

"Garcia knows everything before I do," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, she's awesome."

"So what sports do you play? Your suit probably gives people the impression that you're not that athletic, but I would bet you could probably play any sport."

He regarded with a smile. "I can't play hockey."

She laughed. "Let's see. . . What's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

"Ice cream?"

"You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite ice cream flavor," she told him seriously.

"Really? What if someone doesn't have a favorite?"

"Well, then that would tell me something, too. And you can't just pick Jack's favorite because that's the only one you buy, either."

He took a minute to think about it. "I guess I really don't have a favorite," he told her honestly.

"I should have known."

"Well, what does that tell you?"

"The obvious. That you're more worried about pleasing the people around you than you are yourself."

"What's your favorite?"

"Peanut butter ripple."

He nodded and thought about it for a moment. "You like things simple mostly, but you'll go for the occasional extravagance."

"Not bad for someone who studies behaviors."

"Let me watch you eat it, and I can tell you a whole lot more," he said slyly.

"Oh really? I bet if you watched me eat it on a cone you wouldn't be able to do much thinking, let alone talking," she told with a flick of her brows.

"Oh God. I can only imagine what that would be like," he told her with a grin.

She laughed. "Who's your favorite singer?"

"Easy. Beatles."

"Really? Ouch."

"You don't like the Beatles?"

"I can say that is one group that is not on my iPod."

"So what does that say about me?"

"That you're a bit old fashioned. That once you like something you don't change your mind, even when it goes against what others think."

"Who's your favorite?"

"I like almost anything, but my all time favorite is Phil Collins."

"Which song?"

"In the Air Tonight."

He laughed at that.

"What?"

"Sort of like a demented theme song, don't you think?"

She thought about it a minute, and a sly smile crept onto her face. "Yeah I guess it would be, but I liked it before that."

"My turn. What's your favorite flower?"

"Easy. Roses."

"Classy. What's your favorite movie?"

"You're going to laugh, but it's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I've had a crush on Han Solo since I was five."

He laughed again. "Reid is going to love spending time with you."

"I am a closet geek sometimes."

"That actually doesn't surprise me. Favorite meal?"

"Homemade or out?"

"Both."

"At home: Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, and biscuits. In a restaurant: crab, especially Maryland crabs. What's yours?"

"Out: Italian. At home: Roast beef, potatoes, and carrots."

"Cool. I make a mean roast." She told him with a smile.

The boys ran up to them wanting a drink. "You having fun, buddy?" Hotch asked Jack.

After a couple swigs from a water bottle, he smiled. "Yep. Did you see what Wyatt was showing me?"

"Yeah, I did. Wyatt must be a good teacher cause you were doing really well."

Wyatt beamed. "He's a natural."

"Wyatt gets to spend the night with Aunt Penny. Can I go too?" Jack asked after another drink.

"You can call and ask her if you want, but I don't know what she'll say. I don't know what she has planned."

"Ok." Hotch took out his phone and handed it to his son. Jack took it and walked away a little, apparently wanting privacy.

"Thank you for teaching Jack those moves," Hotch told Wyatt.

"No problem. He was teaching me how to actually play a game. I've only kicked the ball around." He looked at his mother. "We'll have to watch one of his games one time."

"Sure. Maybe when it starts up again you can get on a team, too."

"She said yes, Daddy. She said to make sure we bring the soccer ball so she can see our moves."

Hotch laughed. "I bet." Just then a dog walker caught the boys' attention and they ran over to see the five dogs.

Kahlan shook her head. "You all have a dog?"

"With my job? No. But Jack has been begging for one since he was five."

"Wyatt wants one. I was going to buy him one for his birthday before he went missing. He hasn't asked about one since he's been back, but I got a feeling that that will change in about five minutes," she told him as she watched Wyatt rolling around on the ground with a big mixed breed.

Hotch watched the boys, too, and laughed as a big lab jumped up and put its paws on Jack's shoulders and licked him in the face.

"You like dogs?" Kahlan asked him seriously.

"Oh, sure. Cat's, too. It just never seemed like the right time to get a pet."

"Good. Cause that might have been a deal breaker. I love animals."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "A deal breaker?"

"Oh yeah. I dated this guy one time in high school. I saw him kick my cat, and needless to say, he was thrown out of the house pretty quickly."

"I can imagine." Hotch looked at his watch. "When are you supposed to take Wyatt to Garcia's?"

"She said anytime. Why?"

"You want to take them now and go grab some dinner?"

"Aaron Hotchner, are you asking me out on a date?"

He smiled. "I guess I am. Kahlan Hunter, would you do me the privilege of accompany me to dinner?"

She laughed. "Wow, that was formal." He shrugged. "Exactly where would you be taking me?" She saw the look on his face. "Not that it matters. I just want to know how to dress."

"Oh, well, let's see. . . It would have to be someplace nice. What are you in the mood for?"

She giggled. "Oh you mean what type of food?"

Hotch smiled. "Yeah, at least to begin with."

"Italian sounds nice. There aren't many places in South Dakota for good Italian."

"Then I know just the place," he told her with a smile.

"Well, as soon as the boys are done getting their dog fix, we'll have to take them to Garcia's, and then you'll have to give me an hour to get ready."

"Or I can take the boys while you go get ready, then I'll go get ready and I can pick you up."

"Sounds even better."

"Where are you staying?"

"The same place Jack and them stayed. Same room actually."

XXX

Hotch knocked on the door of Suite 204. He adjusted his tie nervously. When the door opened he couldn't breathe. Standing before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She nervously ran a hand through her hair, mistaking his silence. "Too much?"

He finally took a deep breath. "Perfect." Is all he could say as he looked her up and down. She was wearing a silk, blood red, knee high dress that accentuated her curves so well it looked like it had been made for her. The 'V' shape of its front showed just enough of her cleavage to tease.

"Let me grab my wrap," she told him as she turned and walked away. He then noticed the diamond cut out of the back that showed just enough of her skin that he almost forgot to breathe again. Her black high heels clicked across the floor. He swallowed and shook his head slowly. She had always been nice looking, but he had only seen her in jeans and a pony tail or ball cap. The way she looked now, though, with her hair falling about her shoulders in loose curls, made him think that he was dreaming. "Were you spying on me?"

"Huh?" He didn't seem to be able to form complete sentences any more.

"Your tie matches my dress," she told him with a smile.

He looked down; he had forgotten which tie he had even put on. "It does," he told her as he flashed his dimples.

It was Kahlan's turn to stop breathing for a few seconds. "We going, or do you just want to stand here and stare at each other?"

He smiled again. "Do I have to choose?"

"Come on handsome. I want to see how good this restaurant is." She told him as she grabbed his tie and pulled him out of the door.

XXX

After a romantic meal and a couple glasses of wine, Hotch paid the tab and walked Kahlan to the car. His chest swelled a little as he noticed every man in the place watched Kahlan as she walked past them. His alpha was showing, but he didn't care. They had spent the time getting to know each other a little more. "It's still early. Anything special you want do?" he asked her as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Actually, I do have something for Dave. Could we swing by the hotel and then go over to his place?"

"Sure. He would probably love to be in on the conversation we were planning on having anyway."

"I figured."

She opened the door to her room. She put her wrap and purse down on the table and headed to her room. Hotch sat down at the table and watched her walk away. He sighed heavily and bit his lip as he tried to will away the thoughts that were running through his mind. Finally, ten minutes later, she emerged, and he smiled as realized she had changed. The tight fitting black jeans, though, still showed every curve of her legs and hip, the long sleeve t-shirt matched her eyes perfectly. "No fair. You didn't tell me you were going to change."

"That's because you would have wanted to help, and we wouldn't get anyway doing that," she told him with a smile.

"You can read my mind?" He joked.

"We can swing by your place if you want to change."

"I guess I do look a little over dressed for a friendly visit to Dave's."


	21. Chapter 21

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 21**

Within no time they were pulling into Dave's driveway. Kahlan whistled. "Damn. I think Dave's a little house poor."

"And that's why we always throw our parties here," he told her as he opened her door.

Rossi had the door open before they could even ring the bell. His eyes showed his surprise at seeing Kahlan with Hotch.

"Hey, Dave." She told him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and handed him a bottle of Glenmorangie 18 Years Old Scotch. "Chris says 'hello'", she told him with a smile.

Rossi inspected the bottle. "Damn. I knew she had good taste," Rossi told her implying about himself and the scotch. "This is pretty rare. You two want join me in trying it?" He asked as he walked into his house with them following.

Hotch shut the door behind them. "Sure," he told him as they followed Rossi into his den.

Rossi took out three tumblers, put a few ice cubes in them, and poured them each two fingers worth of the amber liquid. He passed them out.

Kahlan took hers with a scrunched up face. "What's this shit take like?"

Rossi was shocked. "You've never tried scotch?"

She laughed. "No. Other than beer and a few cocktails, the only other thing I've tried is a little wine here and there."

"Well, you're in for a treat then," he said with a smile and took a sip. "Mmmmm. That's nice."

Hotch took a sip of his and nodded his agreement.

Kahlan looked into her glass, glanced at Rossi, and then tentatively took a drink. She coughed as it burned its way all the way down her throat. "Oh yeah, that's smooth," she said sarcastically as Rossi and Hotch laughed at her.

"You're not supposed to drink it," Hotch told her still laughing.

"What I am supposed to do with it, snort it?" She asked as took a couple deep breaths.

"You're supposed to sip it," Dave told her with a smile.

She handed the tumbler back to Rossi. "I think I'll just take a beer if you got one."

He laughed again and went to the kitchen. He brought her back a Corona Light.

"Now there's something I can drink," she told him with a smile.

Rossi just shook his head at her. "So what brings you back to Virginia so soon?"

"I promised Aaron I would answer his questions, and he figured you might have a few questions, too."

He smiled. "Well then, by all means, make yourselves comfortable," he told them as he gestured to the chairs.

"You both need to realize there are some things I cannot divulge, but I will try to answer all of your questions truthfully."

"You answered them all of them truthfully before, but you answered them in a way that didn't reveal anything," Rossi pointed out with raised brows.

"Ok. I will try to answer them fully."

"You're going to make us actually ask you questions?" Hotch asked as he gave her a strange look.

"You really didn't think I was going to make this easy on you, did you?"

Rossi laughed at the feigned hurt look on Hotch's face.

"You think that's funny?" Hotch asked him. Rossi nodded as he laughed a little more. "Fine, you go first."

That stopped him. "Fine." He studied Kahlan who was smiling at them both. "Alright. You said no agency's name has ever been on one of your paychecks." She nodded. "Whose name was?"

Kahlan noticed Hotch's look of approval for the question. She smiled. "That changed every so often, so there isn't just one answer." Rossi was about to protest so she continued. "But the DIC has always been the person to sign my checks.

"The DIC? You mean the DNI?" Hotch asked her, clearly surprised.

"He was still just the Director of Central Intelligence by the time I was out, but yeah, you would now call him the Director of National Intelligence."

"But you said you weren't in any agency." Hotch pointed out.

"I wasn't. The DIC was in charge of it all, not just the CIA."

Rossi studied her for a moment. "When did you receive your first paycheck?"

"In 1992. Gates was the DIC for about a year when I started."

"So you worked for the director?"

She shrugged. "Potato, Patato. I was never really sure if he actually knew about us, or if he just signed the paychecks."

"Us?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah. There were four to six of us at different times."

"And what did you all do?" Hotch asked her as he took another sip of his scotch.

"Now, see, that's where it gets a little sticky. I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you we did whatever needed to be done at the time."

"And does this little group of yours have a name?" Rossi asked.

She smiled. "Have you ever heard of the Omega Squad?"

Rossi's face deadpanned.

"What? Who are they?" Hotch asked frantically when he saw Rossi's reaction. He had thought he had heard the name once but he couldn't recall where.

Rossi studied her for another moment, clearly trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not.

"What? You're the one who asked." Kahlan said with a chuckle.

"What's the Omega Squad?" Hotch asked again looking back and forth between Rossi and Kahlan. He did not like the feeling he was getting.

Rossi took a deep breath and finally looked away from Kahlan to Hotch. "The Omega Squad is **the** urban legend of the intelligence community."

"Urban legend?" Hotch asked, not liking where the conversation was going.

"They've always been talked about, but there was never any proof that they actually existed." Rossi explained.

"It was never an official name. People also referred to us as the Ghost Squad and the AA," she told them with another chuckle.

"AA?" Hotch asked knowing there was no way she was referring to Alocholics Anonymous.

"Alpha Agents," Rossi told him.

Kahlan looked at Rossi, impressed that he knew so much.

"They are the elite of the elite," Rossi told Hotch.

Hotch slowly looked at Kahlan. He had known there was something in her past, but something like that was just too much. He turned to Rossi. "And what does this group of people do?"

"Anything. Everything. It was rumored that they were the ones to finally get Bin Laden."

"That was not me!" She insisted. "I was out before that," she told them defensively. Both men knew that they had touched on a nerve.

Hotch decided to try a different line of questions. "You said that that FBI badge was real. How is that possible?"

She settled down and took a drink of her beer. "Because we worked for the DIC. I actually had a real badge for every agency under his command. Using aliases, of course."

"Every agency?" Rossi asked.

"The whole damn alphabet."

"So you have been out of the country."

"Under different aliases, yes."

"And what kind of jobs have you performed personally?" Hotch asked her with narrowed eyes.

"See, that was the question I was worried you would ask." She took a drink of her beer and looked to Rossi for help. He just shrugged. She looked at Hotch who was waiting patiently. She shook her head and finished off her beer. "Everything I did, I did to follow orders." She started.

"You need another beer?" Rossi asked with a smile.

"Please," she told him with a smile that also thanked him for rescuing her for a moment.

Hotch could just imagine the things she had done. He had already deduced some of them, but he wanted her to tell him. He needed her to be honest with him, so he took a sip of his scotch and patiently waited for Rossi to return.

Rossi handed her the beer as he gave her a small smile. Then he gave Hotch and himself a refill and took his seat.

She nodded her thanks, took a drink, and just looked at the floor. "I have performed surveillance, I have tracked people down, I've kidnapped people, I've blown things up, I've worked protection." She paused to take another drink, but she wouldn't look at either of them. "And yes, I have been an assassin."

Hotch sent Rossi a look, but reached over and took Kahlan's hand.

She looked up at him. "It's not something I am proud of, but I did what I thought needed to be done to help greater good. Can you understand that?"

"I've never thought you a malicious person, Kahlan," he told her honestly.

"Why did you quit?" Rossi asked.

She let go of Hotch's hand and sat up. "Let me just say that I didn't like being ignored." At Rossi's look, she knew she would have to explain further. "We warned them about Al' Qaida. They wouldn't listen, and after 9-11, I couldn't stomach it anymore."

"I can believe that," Rossi told her seriously and tipped his glass to her.

"So have you ever had any backlash from it?" Hotch asked her in a tone that told her that was what he was worried about.

"Never. Kahlan Williams ceased to exist when I was recruited, and she didn't turn back up until I left and went to South Dakota."

Hotch couldn't help but think about Prentiss and her problems with Ian Doyle. "Is there anyone out there that would come after you?"

She studied him for a moment. "Are you asking me if I think it's safe for you and your son to know me?"

He nodded. "You can't blame me for asking."

Kahlan could tell Rossi also wanted to know the answer. She couldn't blame them, though; she knew how much they loved Jack. "While I can't guarantee that it would never happen, I have never had a reason to think it would. If I thought it was dangerous, I would never have had a child of my own." She looked at them both. "Your job is probably more dangerous than my past."

_Ouch!_ Hotch thought, but he knew the truth of that sting.

She smiled at him. "Maybe with someone like me around him, he'll be more protected than he is now."

_Touché!_ Rossi thought with a smile. He might even feel sorry for any unsub who tried to target Jack with Kahlan around.

Hotch smiled at her, too. "I can believe that."

She took another drink and smiled at them, apparently satisfied with the conversation. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Just one," Rossi told her.

She held her breath because she had no idea what he was about to ask her.

He fixed her with a look. "When are you moving?"

They all laughed.


	22. Chapter 22

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 22**

Hotch and Kahlan left Rossi's house after Rossi and Hotch shared some of their earlier exploits and Rossi shared several of his stories from his time away from the BAU when he was focused on his writing. On their way back to Kahlan's hotel, asked about Hotch's past. She knew most of it from her research on the team, but she let him share it with her. He told her about Haley and Jack, and she realized how much he felt responsible for Haley's death. "It's not your fault that psycho went after her, Aaron."

"It is my fault. I couldn't find him before he went after them."

"Wow. How do you still work with your team every day? How do you look them in the eye after still blaming them? I can't believe you haven't quit."

He gave her a look of shock mixed with disgust. "I don't blame them."

"But they didn't find him. They must not be the crack team I thought they were."

"They did everything within their power! They never stopped looking."

"But they didn't find him, and your wife died because of their inadequacies." She noticed that pissed him off.

"Don't you dare say that! They are the best, and they did everything they could to protect Haley and Jack!"

"So they are not to blame?"

"No!"

She smiled at him. "Then, tell me Aaron. How can you blame yourself for not being able to do the exact same thing?"

He was about to protest, but she saw the anger leave him as the truth of her words finally reached him. "I see what you did there," he told her with a smile. "Thank you."

"No problem. I love pointing it out when people are wrong," she joked.

He shook his head. "I'm going to have to watch myself around you aren't I?"

"Oh yeah. You should definitely be worried."

He laughed as he pulled up to the hotel and just sat there in his car. He wasn't sure if he should be presumptuous enough to assume she's invite him in or not.

She apparently read him mind and reached over and turned the car off. "You are coming in, right."

He noticed it wasn't a question and flashed her his dimples. "Well, if you insist." He got out and opened her door for her.

"I hope you won't be offended if I don't wait for you to open my door every time," she told him with a smile as she took his hand.

"What? You can't let a guy be a gentleman?" He asked her as he trapped her between himself, the car door, and the car.

"It's not you being a gentleman. You are a gentleman, Aaron, but sometimes you are just too slow," she joked as she agilely evaded his arm and slipped past him to head to the hotel.

He shook his head as he smiled and caught up with her so he could open the lobby door for her. She shook her head at him as he stood there holding the door, and she turned to go up the stairs. She sprinted up them, not waiting for Hotch to catch up with her. He found the room door open and slowly looked in as he searched for her.

He took a tentative step in and shut the door, and the room was drowned in darkness. He let his eyes adjust and crept forward. He felt his heart racing as he slowly searched for her. He went to the room that he knew she was using. He made his way forward and as soon as he was close to the bed, he sensed her behind him. Before he could turn, though, she came up, took his legs out from under him, and twisted him around so he fell on the bed on his back, his legs bent over of the end. Even in the dim light he could see the smile on her face. "Got ya."

"And now what are you going to do with me?" He asked as he flashed his dimples.

"Ohhhh, it's not what I am going to do _with_ you," she flicked her brows and gave him a sly smile. "It's what I'm going to do _to_ you." She told him and ripped his button-up shirt open as the buttons flew everywhere. His eyes went wide and she could feel his arousal. She kissed a trail down his chest as she undid his belt and pants. He reached up and put his hands on her shoulders. She stopped and grabbed his hands. "Oh no you don't," she told him as she forced his hands down on the bed. "You're not allowed to touch right now." He moaned as her knee ghosted his manhood.

She quickly stood up and used for own foot to relieve him of his shoes and then pulled his pants and boxers down to his thighs and let her foot push them down the rest of the way and off. He marveled at her flexibility and moaned as she took his manhood into her hand and started rubbing him as she reached up and started kissing his neck. He moaned with pleasure and twisted the blanket in his fists to fight the urge to touch her. He could only imagine what she was planning on doing to him since she hadn't taken off her own clothes and he felt his manhood stiffen at the thought. "Like that do you?" she asked in a whisper in his ear.

"Umm-hmmm," he hummed with a nod of his head.

"Maybe you'll like this even more," she whispered and forged another trial down his neck, down his chest, and down his abdomen as she softly cradled his balls in her hand.

"Oh, God," he breathed as she took him into her mouth.

She giggled against him, and she felt him quiver under her. He wanted so bad to touch her that it was driving him crazy, and that mixed with what she was doing to him, made for an even more erotic feeling. She slowly moved up and down him while she rubbed the spot between his base and his balls. He bucked against her as she started bobbing faster. He could feel the burn building and he fought to keep control. The first time they had made love had been a hurried frenzy because of the want and desire they both had pent up. He didn't want this time to go as quickly, but he found his control weakening with every lash of her tongue. She knew he was getting close, so she moved to kiss his inner thigh, marking him roughly. He moaned and was almost shaking with pleasure. She let her hand work him a little more as she slid up his body, marking him the whole way as she let her thigh rub his manhood. She nuzzled his head to the side and nibbled behind his ear.

"You ok?" she asked softly as she let her hot breath encase his ear.

"Oh yeah," he breathed heavily.

She giggled in his ear before descending on him again. She noticed that when she took him into her mouth again that he pulled the blankets over his face as he groaned. She let her tongue snake its way up and down him. He fought his urge to thrust against her, but he was starting to lose control as waves of pleasure made their way through him. She released him and before he could wonder what she was going to do next, he felt her engulf one of his balls with her mouth. She rolled it on her tongue and he jerked with pleasure. His legs were quivering as she stroked him with her hand again. She replaced the one with a suck of the other as he lifted himself off the bed slightly. She giggled and the vibrations sent goose bumps across his body. He moaned with pleasure as it had been far too long since he had experienced anything even close to what she was doing to him. She felt him getting close again and released him as she made her way up his lower abdomen. Gently kissing every muscle that stood out so seductively on his taut belly. She ran her fingers up and down his inner thighs, letting just her nails touch him. "Let yourself go, Aaron," she whispered.

"Ohhhhhh," he cried as she took him in her mouth one more time and pulled down on his sack with her hand.

She bobbed her head, getting faster with each pass. He couldn't control himself anymore and she pushed him over the edge. His body burned with ecstasy as she slowly brought him back down from his high. He finally moved the blanket off and let out the breath he'd been holding as his body tingled in the aftermath. She slowly let him go and slid up to lay beside him.

"Oh. My. God," he gasped as he panted.

"You enjoyed that, huh?"

"No. Not at all," he lied as he fought to get his breathing under control and wrapped his arms around her. "What did I do to deserve that?"

She smiled at him. "You accepted the truth of my past without walking out on me."

He frowned at her. "You actually thought I would?"

"No, but it was just really nice to be proved right."

He shook his head. "You are an amazing woman, Kahlan Hunter," he told her with a smile.

"And you are an amazing man, Aaron Hotchner," she told him as she gave him a kiss and got up.

He sat up and gave her a puzzling look.

"I'm not sleeping in my clothes," she told him simply as she headed to the bathroom.

"Oh, no you don't," he told her as he got up and grabbed her. "The night is still young," he said and pulled her into a kiss.

XXX

The sun came through the curtains and woke Hotch up. He smiled when he realized that Kahlan was lying on his side. They had fallen asleep in the same position. His left arm was wrapped around her and her head was on his chest. He smiled again as he stared at her. She was positively the most beautiful woman he had ever had the pleasure of knowing, and to know that she was his made the alpha male in him howl with pleasure. He reached with his right hand and moved a few strands of hair off of her face.

She moaned as she woke up. She smiled at him and stretched her body. He envisioned a cat stretching after a nap on a window sill and chuckled. She looked at him questioningly. "What's so funny?"

"Funny? Nothing, just enjoying the moment," he told her with a flash of his dimples.

"I could get used to this," she told him as she laid back down against him.

He hugged her tightly. "Me, too."

She grabbed his right hand and looked at his watch. "Wow. I slept past 8:00?

He chuckled. "Well, we were up pretty late."

"You hungry?"

"Famished."

She patted his belly. "Then let's get up and go grab something for breakfast." She jumped up and went to the restroom.

As soon as he stood up, though, his cell phone rang. When he saw it was JJ, he groaned but answered it.

He was almost dressed and putting on his shoes when she emerged. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to take a rain check on breakfast. We got a case," he told her and was waiting for her reaction.

"Ok. I'll follow you to grab Wyatt," she told him as she grabbed her own shoes.

He smiled at her again. She didn't offer any complaints, not one roll of the eyes, nothing, and he again wondered what he had done to deserve such an exceptional woman.

"What will you do with Jack?" She asked as she put her jacket on.

"I'll drop him off at Jessica's," he told her as he put on his coat. He was glad he always kept a go bag in his car, so he could replace the shirt Kahlan had destroyed before he had to pick up Jack.

She followed him to the parking lot and then followed him to Garcia's. She had the boys ready to go by the time they got there. They hugged her good bye and they headed back out to their cars. "Text me if you get a chance," she told him with a smile as she opened her car door.

He smiled and nodded as he got in and drove off. No demands about calling as soon as he knew something, no wanting to know where he was going, no pressure. It was nice. His phone vibrated. He picked it up and smiled again. 'Be safe' was all her text said. _If I'm dreaming, please God, don't let me wake up._


	23. Chapter 23

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 23**

Two days later Kahlan and Wyatt went back to South Dakota to get their things packed. Hotch and his team ended up being in Georgia for six days. Once they were home again, Hotch took Jack to the park. Jack was trying to teach his dad how to roll the ball up his leg, but Hotch wasn't paying attention well enough to really get the move down. He kept feeling like he was being watched, but every discrete look around the park never revealed anyone who seemed to be focused on him or his son. Hotch tried to shake the feeling off, but his gut was warning him. Jack would have said his 'Spidey Senses were tingling', and while he couldn't figure out exactly what it was that was bothering him, he still cut the trip short. When Jack complained about it, Hotch promised ice cream for dessert, so Jack agreed with a smile.

The next morning, as Hotch was taking Jack to school, he thought he noticed an SUV following him. Two turns away from the school, though, it went in another direction. Hotch shook his head. He told himself that he was just being paranoid, but his gut laughed at that. Once he pulled off the street into the parking garage, he saw the SUV drive past. _You don't even know if it was the same one_, he tried to tell himself. His hand unconsciously went to his pistol as he got out of his car and started for the building.

Within thirty minutes they had another case. A serial killer was targeting gang members in Denver, Colorado, and while the police weren't upset about it; they were worried about an all-out gang war starting, so the team was on the jet within twenty minutes.

After three days and only two more bodies, they solved the case and were heading back home. It was after 10:00, so Hotch asked Jessica if Jack could stay the night. She agreed and Hotch joined most of the team for drinks at their favorite bar. Well into his second drink, Hotch's gut was warning him again. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he felt someone watching him. He took a quick look around, but he couldn't see anyone that was showing him too much attention. Morgan nudged his arm, and Hotch looked at him questioningly. He noticed everyone had stopped talking. "I'm sorry. What?" he asked as he looked at the team.

JJ laughed at him. "Wow. Kahlan got you daydreaming?"

"Huh? No."

It was Morgan's turn to laugh. "Yeah, right."

Rossi noticed Hotch's unusual behavior. "Leave him alone. You know he doesn't kiss and tell," Rossi joked with them. He got up to get them another round and told Hotch to come and help carry the drinks. As they walked away from the table, the teamed laughed. Once they were out of earshot Rossi looked at Hotch. "What's wrong?"

Hotch tried to laugh it off, but he could tell Rossi wasn't having any of it. "It's probably nothing."

"What would 'it' be?"

"I keep feeling like I'm being watched," he told him and explained about the park and everything else.

"But you haven't been able to actually see anyone?" Rossi knew Hotch's senses were good, and it worried him that Hotch was worried.

"No. It's just a feeling so far," Hotch told him as they made to the bar.

Rossi ordered the round and they carried the drinks back to the table. A slow song started and Rossi smiled at JJ. "Give an old man a twirl around the dance floor," he asked her.

She shot Garcia a look but said yes and accepted his hand and moved to the dance floor. The rest of the table laughed as they watched them go.

Rossi's plan worked, though, as he noticed a tall muscular man watching the team a little too closely. "You have your phone on you?" he asked JJ while they danced.

"Of course," she told him a little apprehensively. "Why?"

"See that guy in the black leather jacket at the table by the bar?" He asked her as he turned to let her look without being obvious.

"Yep." She told him as he turned her again.

"Think you can get a picture of his face without him seeing?"

"Oh yeah. Do I want to know why?"

"Don't know yet."

They went back to the table and the next fast song had Garcia jumping up and grabbing JJ and Morgan and dragging them to the dance floor. JJ used that opportunity to get a good picture of the man Rossi had pointed out. Hotch excused himself to use the restroom, and Rossi noticed the man watching Hotch. Rossi held his breath as he wondered if the man was going to follow Hotch, but he didn't so Rossi relaxed a little.

"So?" Hotch asked when he came back. He knew Rossi had been watching the crowd.

"He's seems more interested in you than in the team as a whole. JJ should have a couple pictures of him by the time that song gets done."

Hotch nodded. "Which one is it?"

"The guy in the black leather jacket at the high top by the bar," Rossi told him with a laugh as cover.

"Think I should go bump into him?" Hotch asked with an evil grin.

Rossi looked around. "Too late."

Hotch turned to see the back of the man as he left the bar. "Maybe we were wrong," he mused.

As the dancers rejoined the table JJ shot Rossi a look. Rossi just shrugged.

XXX

They didn't have any time to do anything about Hotch's growing concern as they got a case the next morning. The new case took them to New York City. Someone was targeting lawyers and three were already dead, so they asked for the BAU's help because of the brutality of the crimes. As Hotch stood examining a new crime scene, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He paused in his verbal account of the crime and looked around. There were a lot of people gathered at the end of the alley behind the yellow crime scene tape. Hotch didn't want to be too obvious about it, and the quick search didn't reveal anyone he recognized. He tried to ignore the feeling and concentrated on the task at hand.

A man put the binoculars down that he had been using to watch Hotch. He was impressed that the agent always seemed to be able to tell when he was being watched. Being impressed, though, wasn't enough for him. He would soon find out how good of agent he actually was. He smiled. He wasn't sure where or when he would confront the man, but he was looking forward to it. He flipped a knife in his hand and walked away from the window.

Hotch worried that whoever was watching him was responsible for the murders. It was the first time he felt it away from home, and he didn't like the coincidence of lawyers being killed. It wasn't a secret that Hotch got his start in the justice system.

The next morning, Hotch's feeling doubled as he and Rossi looked at the newest victim. The man lying in a dirty alley with his intestines sprawled on the ground around him looked an awful lot like Hotch. Hotch tried to ignore the likeness as he worked the scene. Rossi, picked up on his worry, though, and made sure Hotch was never alone again. Later, when Reid joked about the resemblance, he almost choked on his drink of coffee at the look Hotch gave him.

JJ and Blake shared a look.

After hours of looking over evidence and files they decided to call it a night. As they walked to their SUVs Hotch noticed someone step back into the shadows of the parking lot. He wasn't the only one to see it as Morgan took out his pistol and ran after the man into the shadows. "Morgan," JJ called after him as they all drew their weapons and raced after Morgan. After a few turns they all came to a stop when they found Morgan looking flabbergasted at the dead end he had ran into.

"I saw him run this way," Morgan explained when they came up to him. "It's like he just disappeared."

Hotch looked around at the tall buildings that had formed the dead end. A dumpster, a few boxes, and some trash were the only things around.

"Could he have climbed that?" Reid asked as he pointed to a fire escape ladder that was a good fifteen feet above the dumpster.

"Well, if he did, he's got way madder skills than I do," Morgan told him as he put his gun away and started back towards the SUVs.

Hotch shook his head and started to follow him. He stopped as soon as his neck started prickling. He slowly searched the roof tops. He wouldn't have been able to see anyone in the dark, but he still looked.

Rossi put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he told him but didn't leave until Hotch was walking in front of him.

XXX

It took them three more days to finally catch the unsub; they caught him red handed. They all knew, though, that it was not the man from the parking lot. Once the case was wrapped up, they had the night to spend on the town. While they were in New York City, and they normally loved to spend off time enjoying the city, Hotch's mood had rubbed off on them. Instead of going out and partying seperately, they were sharing a quiet dinner in the back of a local restaurant together as his team silently circled the wagons around their boss.

"So you think this son of a bitch is following you?" Morgan asked him.

Hotch told them about what had happened since the park. Garcia had tried running facial recgonintion on the pictures JJ provided, but she had come up empty.

"Any idea why?" Reid asked him.

"None, and that's what has me worried the most."

"At least you can assume he's not after Jack since he has followed you here," JJ pointed out.

Hotch nodded his agreement as he had also came to the same conclusion.

"It is just me, or does it seem kind of funny that he showed up since Kahlan's been here?" Blake asked.

"She was here before," Reid pointed out.

Hotch shared a look with Rossi. They hadn't shared Kahlan's history with the team. Hotch figured if she wanted to share it with them, she would tell them. He didn't want to admit that Blake may be right, especially since they all knew the man had disappeared out of a dead end that no normal person should have been able to do. He silently wondered if Kahlan would have been able to.

"But he hasn't made any threats or anything toward you," JJ pointed out. "Not that being watched isn't extremely creepy, but maybe he isn't really a threat."

"That or he's just waiting to get you alone," Morgan told him in a tone that said he wasn't going to be let Hotch find out the hard way.

"This could all just be me overacting. I don't have any proof that I am even being watched," Hotch pointed out.

"Then who was that back at the parking lot?" Morgan asked defiantly.

"Hell, for all we know it was just some dealer that took off because he was suddenly faced with six FBI agents," Rossi pointed out. He knew Hotch was not liking the attention his team seemed bent on giving him.

"You all go. Have your fun, and I'll see you in the morning at the hotel. Jet leaves at 8:00," Hotch told them as he got up to leave the table. They started to protest, but he stopped them with a hand. "I do not need a babysitter, especially five of them."

Morgan shot Rossi a look. "Go," is all he told them, and Morgan knew Rossi had no plans of leaving Hotch alone.

They bid him goodnight and Morgan herded them out of the restaurant.

"Damn, now I even have the team paranoid," Hotch told Rossi as they walked back to the hotel.

"They care, Aaron. There's nothing wrong with that." Rossi didn't need to point out that the last person watching Hotch was Foyet.


	24. Chapter 24

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 24**

They returned from New York and without a new case, they were allowed to focus on the paper work that had piled up with the previous three consecutive cases. By 6:00, Hotch was finally ready to call it a night and go home to his son. As he packed his briefcase, he noticed Morgan get up and get ready to leave, too. Hotch groaned and attempted to get to the elevator without him, but Morgan was too quick. "You heading home?" Morgan asked nonchalantly.

Hotch sighed. "Yes."

"Got any plans, or are you just hanging out with the little man?"

Hotch looked at him as the elevator door opened. "Rossi put you up to this?"

Morgan gave him his best innocent look as they walked out of the building. "What do you mean?"

"Are you planning on following me home?"

"I wouldn't technically be following you, you do live on my way," Morgan told him with a grin.

Hotch just shook his head and got in his car.

Morgan followed him to Jessica's as Hotch picked up Jack. Then he followed Hotch to his house, pulled up on the side of the street, and didn't leave until Hotch turned on the porch light letting him know that the house was clear.

XXX

Three days later and not once feeling like he was being watched, Hotch started to think that he had just been paranoid, that or Morgan scared the man off in New York. He even convinced the team that they didn't need to babysit him anymore. He was glad that it was over, too, because he had talked with Kahlan and knew she was on her way in a moving truck. He was hoping they wouldn't get a case so they could help her move in. She told him not to worry, though, because she could get her family to help her if needed.

He was excited to see her almost as much as Jack was to see Wyatt. They had bonded at Garcia's, and Hotch was surprised at how well they got along. Wyatt was only ten months older than Jack, but Wyatt looked like he was a lot older because of his size. Since Kahlan wasn't overly tall, Hotch figured Wyatt's father must have been huge. Wyatt was also very mature for his age, and Hotch knew that had to do with his intelligence and the horrors of living on that ranch for three years. Hotch's stomach hurt at the thought of those boys having to grow up quickly or probably die. He wasn't sure what would happen with Wyatt as far as school went and missing three years, but he had the feeling Wyatt wouldn't have any trouble catching up.

He found himself smiling as he thought of Kahlan and realized he had actually been doing a lot of smiling lately. He had been getting ribbed about it from the team, but it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He chuckled to himself. He would gladly take a little shit from the team if it meant that things were working out with Kahlan.

XXX

The next morning the two Hotchner men left for school and work. After dropping off Jack, Hotch pulled into the parking garage like so many other mornings. He shut his door and pressed the lock button as he started walking toward the building. He suddenly sensed someone behind him. He drew his pistol and turned around in one fluid motion, but he wasn't fast enough. Before he even turned enough to face whoever was behind him, he was stripped of his pistol and his left hand was gripped forcibly, bent, and twisted. It took every ounce of strength Hotch had to not let his knees buckle from the pain. He instantly recognized the man from the photos JJ had taken at the bar.

The man stared Hotch down, but Hotch stood his ground as he twisted a little to try and relieve the pain shooting up his arm. "Wow! You would let me break your wrist before you yielded?"

Hotch answered with a swing of his right arm at the man's face. Hotch had a longer reach and the man had to release Hotch's left hand to avoid the punch. As soon as Hotch felt his hand be released he dove at the man, ramming his shoulder into the man's stomach and driving him back against his car. The man smiled at Hotch, grabbed his shoulders, and slammed his knee into Hotch's stomach. Hotch stumbled back a few feet and the man swiftly took Hotch's legs out from under him and jumped on him, pinning him to the ground.

Hotch struggled to get the man off of him, but the man subdued him with a jab of his elbow to Hotch's sternum. "Would you just stop fighting for a second," the man yelled as the air left Hotch's lungs in a gush. The man then penned Hotch's arms down to the concrete. "Damn! I didn't think you were going to be this feisty!"

Hotch stopped struggling and tried to get air back into his lungs, but it wasn't easy because the man was sitting on his chest. He panted and stared up at the man who smiling at him again. Hotch didn't know who the man was, and he had no clue as to why the man had attacked him; but he knew that the wrist attack was the same move Kahlan had used on Rossi. He figured if the man wanted him dead, he would have already killed him. _At least I think so. God knows what kind of torture this guy knows!_ Hotch tried to relax his body because he didn't want to give the man an excuse to hit him again. Besides, the only other cars he saw parked in their section were Blake's and Reid's, so he knew more of his team would be showing up at any time.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Hotch demanded to know.

"If you think you can behave yourself, I'll let you up," the man told him. Hotch nodded; he wasn't sure if he believed him or not. The man swiftly jumped up and moved back to let Hotch get up. For a split second, Hotch thought about going for the gun at his ankle, but he could tell the man was poised to attack if he had to. Hotch pressed his right hand down on the concrete and pushed himself up. He didn't think his left wrist could handle the pressure. Once Hotch was standing, the man smiled at him again.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Hotch asked him coldly.

"I had to check you out. I had to know what type of a man you are."

"Are you going to tell me why?"

"Kahlan's like a sister to me. I couldn't not check you out, and I needed to tell you that if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down and make you regret ever being born."

"And what, attacking me was your way of checking me out?" Hotch asked; his voice full of anger.

"I didn't attack you. You drew your weapon before I even had I chance to say anything, and then you attacked me. That was impressive, by the way," the man told him with another smile.

"Are you in the habit of sneaking up on people?"

"Yes," is all he said.

Hotch shook his head. He came to the conclusion that the man could have easily killed him, and all he had done was try to subdue him, but it still pissed him off. "And you are?"

"Chuck," the man told him as he stuck out his hand for a shake as if he had just met Hotch at some party.

Hotch didn't take it. _He is crazy,_ Hotch thought as he looked him up and down. "And you're a friend of Kahlan's?"

"Yes."

"And a coworker it would seem."

Chuck smiled again. "I see she's told you about her past."

"It's none of your damn business what she has or has not told me. Who do you think you are coming here and threatening me?" Hotch could feel his anger starting to boil.

Suddenly the man wasn't smiling anymore. "It wasn't a threat, Agent Hotchner," the man told him and Hotch could tell he was deadly serious. "Kahlan has saved my life countless times. I owe her more than you could ever imagine, and I will not stand idly by and let you hurt her or use her."

A car pulled into the garage and both men looked at it. Hotch noticed it was Morgan.

Morgan immediately saw Hotch, brought his car to a stop, and jumped out with his gun drawn.

Hotch turned to say something to Chuck, but he was gone. Hotch shook his head and walked over and picked up his pistol. Morgan came around Hotch's car and was confused at seeing his boss there alone. "What the hell, Hotch?" Morgan asked as he took in Hotch's dirty suit.

"I had a run in with my stalker," is all Hotch said as he picked up his briefcase.

"Where'd he go? What'd he want?" Morgan asked as he scanned the garage. "You alright?"

Hotch nodded and told him to park his car. Morgan wasn't sure if he was going to tell him what happened or not, but Hotch waited for him and they walked to the building together as Hotch told him the story.

XXX

Kahlan arrived the next afternoon and knocked on Hotch's door. He opened it and a smiled spread across his face. Before he could even say anything she leaned up and gave him a kiss to let him know exactly how much she had missed him. He pulled her to him and deepened the kiss. When they finally came up for air, Hotch looked past her expecting to see a moving truck. "Come see the house," she said with a smile and grabbed his hand to lead him away.

Hotch couldn't stop the moan of pain as she turned his wrist and he pulled his hand away from hers.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Hotch told her as he rubbed his wrist.

"Let me see it," she demanded in a tone that told Hotch she wouldn't let it go.

He gave her a small smile and held his arm out for her to inspect. He knew there wasn't a mark on it.

She grabbed his forearm and turned it over as she inspected it.

"See, it's nothing."

She raised her brows and bent his wrist a little. He jerked at the pain. "Who?" is all she asked knowing full well what move had been used on him.

"I ran into an old friend of yours," he tried to play it off, but could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't going to let him. "I ran into Chuck."

"You ran into him? What, did he just happen to show up at the same coffee shop as you?"

Hotch told her about the encounter, but he left out the part where he threatened Hotch.

"I'm gonna kill him," she said as she shook her head.

"It's fine. He seemed to genuinely care about you."

"Yeah, well he needs to mind his own business."

He pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry about him. You're here now. That's all that matters to me."

She finally smiled at him and lead him just two houses down from his. Hotch hadn't even realized the house was for sale. Wyatt was already carrying stuff out of the truck and into the house. He stopped long enough to say hello and ask where Jack was. Hotch told him that he was still at school, but that he would be going to pick him up shortly. Kahlan gave Hotch a quick tour of the modest three bedroom, and Hotch called Rossi to let him know Kahlan had arrived.

By the time Hotch had returned with Jack, the whole team was there along with Will and Henry. Rossi had turned it into a party by buying pizza and drinks and in no time they had the truck emptied. As the adults relaxed, the boys played in the back yard that was enclosed with a privacy fence to everyone's approval. The girls were helping Kahlan unpack her kitchen when the doorbell rang. Everyone looked at Kahlan but she wasn't surprised as she walked to the door. She opened it, stepped outside, and they heard a yelp before she could shut the door behind her. With a look to Rossi, Hotch quickly went to the door.

"What the hell, Kay!" Chuck yelled as he rubbed the spot at the base of his throat. She didn't answer as she quickly grabbed his hand and wrenched his wrist.

Hotch pulled the door open to see Chuck on his knees and his hand in Kahlan's. With a smile of satisfaction, he just quietly shut the door. He knew she'd be fine.

"Don't ever think you are big and bad enough to check up on me or anyone I want to be with!" she told him through clenched teeth as she applied even more pressure to his hand making sure to damage the tendons and ligaments even more than his move had done to Hotch.

"Alright! I'm sorry!" He pleaded and she finally let him go. He stood up sheepishly and rubbed his chest some more.

"You will apologize to Aaron."

He knew it wasn't a request and he sighed heavily. "Alright. Jeeze, Kay. Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"You're lucky I didn't break your collar bone. I can't believe you did that to Aaron."

"I had to check him out. I had to know if he's good enough for you."

"I think I'm the only one who gets to decide that. Do I need to worry about this going any further?"

"No. I'm sorry. Ok?"

"You are going to go in there and apologize, or you are not going to be welcomed here again."

"Ok. Damn."

She opened the door and motioned for him to go in. She led him into the family room, and introduced him. He apologized to Hotch and Hotch accepted it as he saw a bruise forming on the man's neck. Hotch almost felt sorry for him, he knew how bad the move hurt.

"Exactly why did you feel it necessary to follow me around for two weeks before you confronted me?" Hotch asked him seriously.

"I didn't follow you around for two weeks," Chuck told him. With the look on Hotch's face he continued. "I followed you to that bar, but that was the only time until I saw you yesterday." With a look from Kahlan he added, "I swear!"


	25. Chapter 25

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 25**

"You've been followed for two weeks?" Kahlan asked clearly concerned. "And you didn't think that was something that maybe you should have shared with me?"

Hotch sighed. "I wasn't even sure it was happening, and when he showed up I just assumed it was him," Hotch told her with a gesture at Chuck.

"So how many other old friends does he have to be worried about?" Rossi asked Kahlan.

Kahlan gave him her most innocent look. "You weren't supposed to have to worry about any of them," she told him as she shot a look at Chuck.

"Yeah, but there still had to be someone connected to you who is following Hotch," Blake told her.

"Why does he have to be connected to me? I'm sure Hotch has a few of his own enemies out there."

Hotch mentally smiled. He noticed that whenever Kahlan was around the team she always referred to him with his nickname. "And again, I'm not even sure someone actually was following me," Hotch tried to assure them. "I never actually caught anyone doing it. It was just a feeling." Hotch tried to plead his case. It was bad enough when his team thought he was in trouble, but seeing Kahlan's concern made him regret even bringing it up.

Kahlan fixed Chuck with a look. He timidly took a step back. Rossi had to chock back a chuckle. He would have sworn that the muscular man was in his late thirties and fit enough to take on the whole team at once; but when faced with Kahlan's very Hotch-like stare, he seemed like a timid school boy. Kahlan's stare bored into Chuck and he swallowed hard. "Have you seen anyone that I need to know about?"

"You're asking me if I saw anyone following him?"

"Well, yes, and I'm also worried you have shared your version of looking out for me with anyone else."

"First off, I haven't told anyone about your new boyfriend." With the look Kahlan gave him he immediately regretted referring to Hotch that way. "The agent, and no. I didn't notice anyone showing him undue attention, but I only followed him that one day to the bar."

"When was the last time you felt it?" Kahlan asked as she turned to Hotch.

"New York, and not since, so it was nothing," he told her off-handedly.

She sighed and decided to let him drop it, and turned her attention back to Chuck. "I think it's time for you to go." He gave her a big smile, but lost it when he realized it wasn't going to change her mind. He followed her to the door. Once they were outside and the door was shut, Kahlan turned and gave her friend a hard look. "How did you know?"

"Cameron told me. He knew I was back in Virginia, so he told me what was going on. He wanted me to check him out, too."

Kahlan shook her head. Cameron was the computer genius from her old team and had helped her with everything. "I'm sure Cameron didn't tell you to attack him."

He held up his hands in submission. "He attacked me! I was only defending myself."

"Well what do you think he was supposed to think when you snuck up on him?"

"He's actually a pretty good fighter. I think you got yourself a keeper," he told her with a grin.

"Yeah, well, you just stay away from him for now." As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stay mad at him. "I'll call you later, and we'll get together and catch up." She hugged him.

He hugged her back. "It'll be like old times."

"God, I hope not," she told him with a grin as she watched him walk to his car and leave.

She went back inside and noticed the agents getting ready to leave. "Sorry about that. He is actually a really nice guy," she explained to them. Everyone said their goodbyes and Kahlan thanked them for their help. Wyatt asked Jack to help him unpack some stuff in his room. Kahlan shot her son a smile and sat down on the couch. Hotch joined her and studied her face.

"Chuck isn't an old boyfriend or something is he?"

She laughed. "No, but he's always had the crazy idea in his mind that he needs to protect me. I am sorry, Aaron. I didn't even know he was in Virginia, let alone that he knew about you. I haven't seen him in over a year."

Hotch nodded and he considered her for a moment. "Any other squad members that I have worry about being concerned for you?"

"No. Well, I don't think so," she answered with a small smile. "Last I heard, Harry and Jan were living someplace in Europe. It's not like we stay in constant contact or have a reunion every year or something."

Hotch smiled at her. He couldn't blame Chuck for being worried about her. His whole team considered themselves one big family, so he understood where Chuck was coming from. "I'm glad you're finally here," he confessed as he moved closer to her and leaned in to give her a kiss. They pulled back when they hear Wyatt's bedroom door open.

Hotch stood up and looked at his watch. "Well, I better be getting Jack home and in bed," he told her and yelled for his son to get his coat.

Kahlan stood up and walked him to the door. "Maybe we can get together this weekend or something," she suggested with a smile as they waited for Jack.

"We have to wait three days?" Hotch asked with a grin as Jack came door. Kahlan just smiled and told them goodnight and watched them walk back toward their house.

XXX

Another case came the next afternoon, and the team found themselves in Florida fighting to stop a human trafficking ring. After two days, Hotch got a call from Jack asking if he could spend the night with Wyatt. Hotch smiled. It was nice for Jack to have someone he could play with and he knew Jack would be safe with her, so he agreed. Once he was in the hotel that night he called Kahlan to make sure everything was going well.

"Any feelings of being watched?" She asked him.

"No."

"Good. I'd hate to have to make a trip to Florida to kick someone's ass." Hotch wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, but she laughed. "We need to discuss something if you have a minute."

"Sure. I'm the hotel for the night."

"Wyatt said that he and Jack were discussing what to call us. Wyatt wasn't sure so he asked me, and now I'm asking you."

Hotch smiled. He had been worried for a second, but he laughed. "Yeah, I was hoping Wyatt would stop calling me 'Mr. Hotchner.'"

She laughed at that. "Well, I don't think he feels comfortable with calling you Aaron, either. I was wondering if you'd mind if he called you 'Hotch,' and if it would be alright with you if Jack called me 'Kay'? That's what the kids in Reliance always called me."

"That's fine with me," he told her.

"Well, I didn't want to do it without asking, and I don't want them to feel awkward around us either." _That was easy_, she thought and then she teased him that she had fixed a roast for dinner.

"That's not fair," he told her, and she could actually hear his smile in his voice.

"I'd tell you I let you have the leftovers, but you probably aren't sure when you're coming home, are you?"

"No. not yet."

"I'll just have to fix another one when you're here. Maybe we can get Garcia to watch the boys again," she hinted.

"Oh, yeah?"

She could just imagine his dimples and it made her smile. "Yeah. We can figure out who has the most comfortable bed."

Hotch groaned. He didn't want to imagine it, but it was too late and he was glad he was in his room already. "You are mean."

"You think I'm mean just because I mentioned a bed?" She laughed. "Well then, I guess you'd hate me if I described what I would be wearing in that bed, huh?"

Hotch groaned again and let his head fall back on the pillow as he laid down on the hotel bed. "Please don't. That would be torture." His imagination was already too much for him, and he knew he'd have to take a cold shower to be able to go to sleep.

"Hmmmm. Torture. . . I'm seeing ropes and my four poster bed. . ." Hotch almost choked on his own breath. She giggled. It was the same giggle that he had only heard from her when they were in bed, and he groaned again. "Or handcuffs. You have a pair of those don't you?" she asked seductively, and he knew he would never be able to look at his handcuffs the same again.

"You are definitely not nice, woman," he told her as he adjusted his slacks.

"No one has ever accused me of being nice," she told him with a laugh. His phone signaled that he had received a text, but he was going to ignore it. "You may want to look at that," she told him slyly.

"Is that you?"

"Maybe," she told him with a giggle.

Hotch quickly brought up the message. It was a picture of black negligée laying on what he assumed was Kahlan's bed. He moaned as he imagined her wearing it. "No, you are definitely not nice."

She giggled again. "Oh, you don't like that one? Well, I. . ."

"I didn't say that!"

"Oh, so you do like it?"

"Maybe," he used her own word against her. "I guess I would have to see it modeled to be absolutely sure."

"That can be arranged."

His phone went off again. He found a picture of a purple teddy with matching garters and stockings. _Ice cold shower, definitely ice cold!_

She laughed as if she could read his mind. "So which one do you want to see me in first?"

"I have to choose?"

"Unless you want me to surprise you."

"Yeah, you better choose. I don't think I can be held responsible for actually making a decision at this point in time."

"Wow. Did you just revert back to being a lawyer?"

Hotch laughed. "Yeah, I think you have fried some part of my brain."

"No. That's just one head taking control of the other head," she told him as she giggled again.

"I think I should go take a cold shower before I completely lose all of my ability to think."

"Then I guess I better behave and let you go, huh?"

"Yeah, it's probably going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Well, good luck with the case, and be safe. Call me tomorrow."

"I will. Good night."

"Sweet dreams," she told him with another giggle and hung up.

_Oh yeah, definitely not nice!_ He thought as he made his way to the shower.


	26. Chapter 26

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 26**

After two more days, the team solved the case in Florida and was heading home the next morning. Strauss told Hotch that the team could have two days of stand down time, and Hotch started to plan a special night for Kahlan. He texted Garcia to see if she would watch Wyatt; Jessica already said she would pick up Jack from school and keep him. He was trying to figure out what he could do. He didn't want to get a hotel, they'd already done that. He didn't want to just take her out, they'd done that, too. He wanted to impress her, but he wanted to do it simply not by going overboard.

Rossi sat down beside him. "What's up?"

Hotch considered him a moment. "I want to do something nice for Kahlan tonight, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to do."

Rossi smiled and nodded. He liked the idea of Hotch heading home on the jet and actually thinking about something else besides another case. He liked the way Kahlan had changed him. Hotch didn't ware his scowl 24/7 anymore, and he had actually caught Hotch smiling a few times. Hotch had also lost the circles under his eyes, and Rossi figured Hotch wasn't staying up late doing paperwork all the time. It was nice for Hotch to have something else to focus on besides his work. "Does she know we're headed home?"

"No. I want it that to be part of the surprise."

"How are you handling the boys?"

"I had Garcia call and ask her if Wyatt could come see her. She wants to take him to a movie or something, and Jessica is keeping Jack."

"Nice. I assume you don't want to take her out?"

"No. I want to set up something at home."

Rossi nodded and thought about it for a moment. "Just fix her a nice dinner. She probably hasn't had someone do that in a long time."

"I was actually thinking about that. Are crabs in season yet?"

XXX

It didn't take Hotch anytime to close out the case files and turn them, so he headed home and got things rolling for his date night. Garcia had found him a restaurant that sold Maryland crabs, and she set it up for Hotch to pick some up. He stopped by the restaurant and headed home with a smile on his face. He knew exactly how he was going to set things up. He parked around the corner and made way his way to his back door; he didn't want Kahlan to be able to see him get home. Once everything was ready he would walk to her house to get her. He knew she didn't have any plans from her conversation with Garcia, and he couldn't wait to see her face.

XXX

The next afternoon, Rossi's phone rang. He noticed Kahlan's number on caller ID and he smiled. He couldn't wait to hear how the date went. "Hey, Kiddo. How's it going?"

"Is Aaron with you? He's not answering his phone."

"What?" Rossi's heart skipped a beat. "Aren't you with him?"

"Why would I be with him? Aren't you guys still in Florida?"

Rossi could hear the worry in her voice and he felt his heart racing. "No. . ."

"Rossi?"

"I will be there in ten minutes," he told her, hung up, grabbed his keys, and ran out the door.

XXX

Rossi pulled up to Hotch's house. Kahlan was waiting on the porch, and Rossi figured she wasn't as calm as she looked. They didn't waste pleasantries as Rossi used his key to unlock Hotch's front door. Kahlan let Rossi enter first and they quickly cleared the house. They didn't find Hotch, but what they did find sent a chill down Rossi's spine. He took out his phone to call the team.

Kahlan looked over the scene. She smiled sadly as she realized he had gone to a lot of trouble to apparently set up dinner for her. He had taken Jack's sand box and dumped it on his back patio. The sand was raked up to the French doors to make it look like a beach. He had also put a table and two chairs in front of the doors. The table was set with a red and white checkered table cloth, plates, glasses, and candles. It was a nice romantic scene. The kitchen was a different story. It was obvious there had been a struggle, and the blood on the edge of the counter made Kahlan stomach twist into a knot. A large pot was on the floor and its contents were scattered. Kahlan could tell the crabs hadn't been cooked all the way through. A pot of pasta had boiled dry and burned to the bottom of the pot. Kahlan grabbed a towel, turned the burner off, and pulled the ruined pot off the burner. A little metal pail held six beers, and Kahlan assumed the water in the pail had been ice. She bit her lip as she tried to force down the anger burning up her chest. He had been followed, and she let him blow it off. She should have done something, she wasn't sure what, but she shouldn't have let him just ignore it.

Rossi called to her from Hotch's garage. Kahlan quickly joined him and noticed the blood splatters on the floor that led into the back yard. "Where the hell is Aaron's car?"

"I noticed it around the corner. He didn't want you to know he was home until he could surprise you."

Kahlan shook her head and went to follow the blood trail out into the yard, but heard a vehicle pull into Hotch's driveway. Rossi opened the garage door and they saw Morgan and Reid get out of Morgan's SUV.

Within thirty minutes, the whole team was there and a CSU team was collecting evidence.

"So when was the last time you all saw him?" Kahlan asked the team.

"He left the office at 10:27 yesterday," Reid told her.

"And the last call on his cell was to Jessica's at 5:00 last night," Garcia told them from Morgan's phone. They all figured that Hotch had probably called Jack.

"Did anything happened in Florida?" She asked them.

"Nothing that we know of," JJ told her.

"The blood on the counter matches Agent Hotchner's type, but we will have to wait until DNA can be run to know for sure," a CSU tech told them.

They all tensed a little more. They had figured it was Hotch's blood, but having it basically confirmed set them more on edge.

"So all we have is that Hotch may or may not have been followed, and has now been missing for around twelve hours," Morgan pointed out.

"What about the guy you chased in New York? Did you see get a decent look at him?" Kahlan asked him.

"Not really. He was built enough like your friend Chuck that I just assumed it was him, too."

"Are you sure that your friend isn't involved?" Blake asked her with enough of an edge in her voice that Rossi tensed. He was worried that Kahlan was going to do something to her.

Kahlan just smiled at her, though. "I assure you that Chuck had nothing to do with this," Kahlan told her in an icy tone.

"We have no leads. What are we going to?" Reid asked them trying to ease the tension.

Kahlan turned to him. "I don't know about you all, but I'm going to find Aaron," she told him seriously and walked out of the house.

Morgan shot Rossi a look. "Are you just gonna let her go?"

Rossi smiled. "You think you could stop her?"

Morgan just ran a hand over his head and watched the door shut behind her.

**XXXXX**

Hotch sat in a chair in a long empty room of what he thought looked like an old office building. He could tell he was several stories up because the windows didn't have any coverings. When he woke up earlier that morning he had tried to escape his bonds, but his hands were bound behind the back of the chair with handcuffs and it was somehow attached to the chair because Hotch couldn't lift them at all. His legs were bound to the front legs of the chair, and the chair was attached to the floor. His head hurt and he knew it was from someone slamming it into his counter. He shook his head. He couldn't believe he was surprised so easily. He was in his kitchen cooking dinner and when he was attacked from behind. He had no warning and the blow had knocked him out so he had no idea who had attacked him and left him in the room. He was thirsty, his head felt like it wanted to explode, and he had no idea why; and it pissed him off.

Was it the stalker he thought was gone? Was it someone connected to Kahlan? Whoever it was must be good for him to have slipped into Hotch's house and come up on him without him hearing anything. He thought about Chuck, and he wondered for a minute if it was him. Maybe Kahlan didn't know him as well as she thought. Then he started thinking about all of the criminals he had helped to put away, and he realized there was a long list of people who probably wanted him dead. He kicked himself for not setting the alarm in his house. He had been relaxed enough through the week that it hadn't even occurred to him to do set it. _You should have known better, Hotchner!_

He wondered who would realize he was missing first. The team had the day off, so they wouldn't miss him. Kahlan didn't even know he was back yet, so she wouldn't miss him either. Then he thought about Jack. Jack would try to call him, he knew, and when he didn't get an answer, Jessica would probably call Dave. Would Dave just chalk it up to him being busy with Kahlan, or would Dave get worried and go to his house? Unless the attacker clean the place up, it would be obvious he didn't leave of his own accord. _Dave wouldn't let it go. He knows I would never ignore a call from Jack no matter what._ So that meant they were probably already looking for him. He sighed heavily. He didn't think there would be enough for them to go on to actually begin a search. If he had come up with a theory or two about who was stalking him, then maybe they would have something to use, but he had let it go. He mentally kicked himself again because that was exactly what the stalker had wanted him to do.

If his team wouldn't be able to find him, then he had to take upon himself to get away. He bit his lip as he considered his options. As of right then, he really didn't have any. He couldn't get even get out of the chair he was sitting in, let alone away from wherever he was. He desperately wanted whoever was responsible to show himself, but yet he was worried what would happen once that actually happened. He didn't think the person wanted to kill him. _He could have just killed me at home, so he has another agenda. What, though?_ He had too much experience in dealing with people who had kept their victims alive for long periods of time. He could be in for some pretty nasty shit and with his imagination he didn't like it one bit. _No! Don't start thinking the worst until you have a reason to! Focus on the task at hand!_ He tried again to figure out how the cuffs where hooked to the chair. He could feel the chain of the cuffs and he could feel a thin chain around the handcuff chain, but he couldn't feel where the little chain was hooked. He, again, tried to slide the cuffs off his wrist. He had struggled against them enough that they had cut into him, and he thought that maybe his own blood would grease his hands enough to be able to slip out of the cuffs. After several minutes of painful trying, though, he knew they were just too tight.

Then he took to trying to move the chair again. He could lean over enough to realize the chair was held to the floor with 'L' brackets with screws, so he thought if he could get them moving enough that the screws may become stripped enough for him to be able to pull them out. It bothered him that the kidnapper had apparently planned it all out. Any idea that it was a spur of the moment crime that would lead to mistakes was squashed as he realized this unsub was organized and patient. That mean he would be harder to find. _Shit!_

After several minutes he knew the chair and the screws were too strong to allow for enough movement. He resigned himself to just wait. Eventually the unsub would be there. He had to wait to see what the unsub wanted. Maybe he would be able to talk his way out or the unsub would make a mistake and he would be able to escape. All he had to do is wait. _He will come. He wouldn't have gone through all that and just left me, right?_ He didn't want to consider how long it would take him to die of dehydration or starvation.


	27. Chapter 27

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 27**

Kahlan was in an office that seemed to have walls made out of screens. They ranged from eighteen inch computer screens to big fifty-five inch plasma screens. A man with long brown hair was using one of the many keyboards on one the desks. "Come on Cam, there has to have been at least one satellite pointed down around Quantico yesterday," Kahlan told him as she paced.

"If you had any idea how many satellites there are or if you had any idea how much information I have to go through to find the right one, you would be the one in the chair," Cameron told her.

"But that's what I have you for."

"Yes, and if you would stop pacing I might actually be able to concentrate."

Kahlan stopped and gave a dirty look to the back of the man's head.

"I saw that," he said with a smile.

"You must be slipping. I would have thought you would have found it by now."

"Attacking me mentally isn't going to make me work faster," he told her as his fingers moved so fast on the keyboard that Kahlan couldn't keep track of them.

Kahlan sighed and slid down the door to sit on the floor.

"You must really like this guy, huh? I don't think I've ever seen you so wound up."

"Just find it, Cam."

"So you do like him. . . Do I detect maybe even a little love?"

"This really isn't the time, Cam."

Cameron laughed. "Yep. I will take that as a yes." He craned his neck and smiled at her. "I can't believe the stone cold queen has actually opened herself up to some guy. Although, Chuck was impressed with him, so I guess he's more than just some guy, huh?"

"A lot more. How you found it yet?"

"Jesus! Go grab a coffee or something. I'm working as fast I as can."

"No thanks, I'll just wait."

"You have never been a patient person, Kay."

"Nope."

"Why isn't his team trying to find him?"

"They are, but they don't have the access you have."

"Most people don't. You should be glad I like you so much."

"That I do. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Cameron smiled. "Ah ha!"

Kahlan jumped up to look at the screen directly in front of Cameron. She watched as he zoomed the image in on the neighborhood.

"It's from a weather satellite so it won't be very clear, but you should be able to get something from it," he told her as he narrowed the image to look at Hotch's house and surrounding area.

He manipulated it so that it ran in fast forward. She saw Hotch car pull up and watched him go to his house. Several vehicles drove past Hotch's house but none of them stopped. She was getting impatient again and she drummed her fingers on Cameron's desk. Finally she noticed a van pull up along Hotch's back yard. "There."

Cameron slowed the image down to normal time and they watched someone leave the van, go through the gate in Hotch's fence, and slowly make his way to Hotch's house. Kahlan couldn't be sure, but she thought it was a man from the build and the way he walked. Six minutes later, the figure emerged carrying Hotch in a fireman's carry. She watched as he put Hotch in the back of the van, slam the doors shut, and take off. "Any way to change the angle and get a look at his plates?"

"Not with this one, but now that I know the exact time, I might be able to find another one with better coverage."

"Can you send me a video of it?"

He clicked a few keys and her phone chimed. "Just did."

"Can you print me a picture of the van?"

"Done," he said before she even heard the printer start.

She walked over to the printer and looked at the picture. Cameron had been able to blow the image up some, but the only thing she could be sure about is that the van was white and had some sort of green image on the side of it.

"I'll keep searching and see if I can find something better. Keep your phone on," he told her as he stood up and gave her a hug. "Good luck."

She hugged him back. "Thanks, Cam. I owe you, again."

**XXXXX**

Hotch brought his head up off his chest as he heard a door open and shut somewhere behind him. He craned his head around as far as it would go so he could see who was approaching. It was a big muscular man, but Hotch didn't recognize him. He was carrying a bag over his shoulder and Hotch noticed that he wasn't in a hurry. The big man stood in front of Hotch looking at him. Then he dropped the bag on the floor. By the sound of it Hotch figured there was something made out of metal in it. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Hotch asked him in an even tone.

"Just another job," the man told him with a smile.

_Shit! He's being paid to do this, so someone has hired him. Shit!_ "Yeah? Who hired you?"

"That doesn't matter. All that matters now, is how much pain I can give you before you die."

Hotch swallowed hard, but he kept his face passive. "Do you know who I am?" Hotch knew he didn't have his badge on him when he was attacked.

"Yep. You're FBI Agent Hotchner. I've never made a mistake in identities."

"And someone hired you to kill me?"

"Yep."

"May I ask how?" Hotch really didn't want to know, but it might give him a clue as to who had hired him.

"He didn't care, just as long as it was done. He told me to use my imagination." He smiled again. "I have a good imagination."

_Great! A hit man with an imagination, just what I need._

**XXXXX**

Kahlan took out her phone as she walked to her car. She dialed Dave and waited for him to answer before she started her car.

"Hey Kiddo, I assume you have something."

She smiled. "Yeah. Where can I meet you?"

"Can you come to the bullpen?"

"Sure. I'll be there in about forty five minutes," she told him then hung up and headed to Quantico.

XXX

Rossi was waiting for her at the front desk. He signed her in and they headed up to the bullpen. Once they were through the glass doors, he finally asked her what she had found.

She showed him the video on her phone of Hotch being abducted. Then she handed him the photo of the van. "That's as clear as it could get, but I figured Garcia could search traffic cams for anything like it at the entrance to the neighborhood."

"Nice. Your friend at the CIA?"

"Yeah, but Garcia's hooked into the local system better than Cameron is," she told him as he led her to Garcia's lair.

Once Kahlan stepped into the office she laughed. Garcia spun in her chair at the noise. "What's so funny?" she asked desperately. Kahlan realized that she was not handling Hotch's disappearance well.

"I'm sorry. I should have realized your office would just be an extension of you. I just came from an office sort of like this, but Cameron's is very sterile compared to all this," Kahlan told her as she gestured to all of the colorful things around the room.

"Oh," is all Garcia said. "Give me something to do Rossi. I can't handle not doing anything to help in the search for my liege."

Rossi smiled at her. "That's why we're here, Kitten. Kahlan has figured out that this van was used to take Hotch," he told her as he handed her the photo. "We need you to search traffic cams to see if we can find it entering and leaving Hotch's road."

"No problem," she told him and attacked her keyboard. "What else has my double 'o' agent found?" Garcia asked apparently speaking about Kahlan.

Kahlan chuckled. "That's it so far, sorry it isn't a better picture."

"I don't care if there are a hundred white vans. I will track down every last one of them," Garcia promised.

"Alright. Let us know when you find something," Rossi told her as he squeezed her shoulders.

"But of course."

Rossi then led Kahlan to the conference room. The rest of the team were compiling lists of possible unsubs. Reid was looking into recent cases, JJ was looking at people who had been released from prison, and Morgan was going through Hotch's files to see if there was anything in them that they didn't know about. Kahlan noticed that Blake wasn't there and figured she must have been teaching. They all stopped what they were doing when Rossi and Kahlan walked in.

"Hotch was abducted by I believe a man, and he was driving a white van," Kahlan told them. "Here, there's a video on my phone if you want to email to one of you so you can bring it up on the screen," she told Morgan as she handed him her phone.

Morgan took it and within minutes the video played out in front of them large enough for them all to see it at once. They all watched in silence as the man made his way to Hotch's house. Kahlan could sense the anger in them as they watched him carry Hotch to the van, though. She couldn't blame them, she was pissed, too.

"Garcia's searching traffic cams as we speak," Rossi told them.

"There's no way to manipulate the image to get a better shot of the man?"

"No. That was first image we could find, but my friend is still looking for a better one."

"Well, at least we can scratch any females off the list," JJ told them.

**XXXXX**

"First I want to use you in an experiment," the big man told Hotch as he knelt down beside his bag.

Hotch tried to keep his breathing steady, but fear was creeping its way up from his stomach. He had seen to many horrible things in his life, and he was imagining all kinds sick experiments.


	28. Chapter 28

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 28**

Hotch's eyes narrowed as he saw the man stand up with a Kevlar vest. _What the hell?_

"My first experiment will involve this," he told him as he advanced on Hotch and put it on him forcibly. "I've always wondered how many shots one of these things could take," the man told him sadistically.

_Shit! _Hotch thought as the man took a pistol out of the bag. _Shit!_ Hotch knew the vest would stop a couple of pistol slugs without a problem. His vest had saved him a couple times before, but he wasn't sure the caliber of the pistol, what kind of ammo the man had, or how close the man was going to be when he shot him. He also had no clue how many consecutive shots a vest could take. He did know, though, that it hurt like hell to get shot with a vest on. The vest may stop the bullet from penetrating, but the force of the blow had been known to break bones. _Fuck! What if he's a bad shot? Shit!_

The man cocked the pistol and took about ten steps away from Hotch. As he took aim, Hotch wanted to turn away. He knew it wouldn't help if the man missed the vest, but he really didn't want to watch. He knew, though, that some people got off on the fear they could create, so Hotch stared him down. The man fired once, and the air left Hotch's lung from the force of the impact to the center of his chest. As Hotch's lungs fought for air, he thought for a second that the chair was going to fall over, but it held firm and made Hotch's body absorb the full brunt of the bullet. Finally Hotch was able to breathe again and he noticed the man was smiling again. As Hotch gasped for air another bullet slammed into the vest. Hotch could tell by the impact that he had been hit him in the lower right. He thought he felt or heard one of his ribs crack, too. Before he could even get his breathing under control another bullet hit him in the upper chest again. He tried to keep himself sitting up. He didn't want to give the man a smaller target, but the pain was almost too much to take, and his body wanted to curl into a ball to protect itself. He couldn't breathe again, and he was scared that something inside him had been damaged. He was starting to see stars as his chest ached for oxygen, and another bullet slammed into his right causing enough pain that he passed out.

**XXXXX**

Garcia found several white vans with a green logo; most of them belonged to a lawn care company that was based in Quantico. She also found three more white vans: one had a green technical support logo, one had a blue lock smith logo, and one didn't have a logo at it at all. She was running plates and doing backgrounds on the drivers while the team was running down leads on their lists of possible unsubs. Kahlan had left them to go track down something she wouldn't discuss, and Rossi was sure he didn't want to know about it. Morgan, however, was worried about her doing something illegal. Rossi just shrugged; if he didn't know, then he didn't have to worry about it. If it led to Hotch, he didn't actually care, either.

XXX

Kahlan walked into a bar and found Chuck sitting at a table in the back. She smiled as she realized he had a beer waiting for her. "You wanted to see me?" She asked as she sat down and took a drink.

"Yeah. I did some checking, and some of my buddies in the organized crime division have heard whispers that there's a hit man in town."

"And there's a reason you think it's connected to Hotch?"

"I do. Especially since I also heard some whispers about a woman trying to hire a hit man who wasn't afraid if the target was a federal agent."

She raised brows. "And do you know who this woman is?"

He shook his head. "No name, but apparently Hotchner killed her brother, and she wants revenge."

"Hotch's team have put a lot of people away. A lot of them have to have brothers."

"I got the impression he did it not his team, and unless your man has killed a lot more people than I expect, his team should be able to track her down."

"That's awesome, Chuck." She took out her phone to tell Rossi to focus their search around sisters of men Hotch had killed. "Any idea where this hit man might be?"

"He's been seen in some of the upper end clubs around DC, but I don't have a name yet, but I just sent you his picture," he told her as he used his phone.

She nodded slowly, and he could tell the wheels were turning in her head. She took a long drink of the beer and then got up. "Thanks, Chuck." she told him with a smile.

"So does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "If this pans out, I'll think about it," she joked and left.

**XXXXX**

Hotch moaned as he came to. He was taking small shallow breaths because it hurt too much to breathe normally. He looked around and couldn't see the man, so he looked down at the vest that was still on him. He counted five slugs, but he was sure there were more slugs he couldn't see. Every inch of his chest hurt, and he thought that he probably had a couple of broken ribs. It bothered him that the man had continued to shoot him even though he had passed out. He silently hoped that the experiment was over. The man had said he wanted to see how many shots the vest could take, so he had thought the man was going to shot him until the vest failed. Maybe the man had used an entire clip on him and was satisfied with the results. _But he said 'first experiment', that means more. Shit!_

Hotch moaned as he tried to get his body in a more comfortable position. He realized, though, that it was almost impossible while sitting in the chair. He scooted his butt out to the edge of the seat and let his head fall back and tried to swallow, but his mouth and throat were so dry that couldn't. He chuckled as he considered that he would even take getting shot again in trade for a drink. He wondered where the man had gone. He also wondered how much longer it would be before the man killed him. He noticed it was getting dark out, and the little sliver of hope that his team would find him was diminishing rapidly. He knew if there wasn't a break in the first twenty-four hours after abduction, that it became harder for the victim to be found. _The victim. That's great, I'm a victim again._ He started to laugh at his situation, but his chest hurt too bad, so resigned himself to just try to relax. He was tired, so he let his chin rest on his chest and tried to think of good things: Jack scoring his first goal, his team sitting around a table sharing a dinner at Rossi's, holding Kahlan's hand as they walked down the street. He shook his head. He couldn't believe how, just when things were starting to get good in his life, everything turned to shit so quickly. He drifted off to a fitful sleep filled with imagined horrors that he could suffer at the hands of the hit man.

**XXXXX**

Kahlan called Rossi as she sat in her car.

"I don't know how fast your friends are, Kahlan, but you haven't given us enough time yet," Rossi joked as he answered.

Kahlan laughed. "You mean Reid doesn't have every unsub's extended family in a list somewhere in that brain of his?" It was Rossi's turn to laugh. "Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go clubbing with me tonight?"

"Clubbing? Don't you think I'm a little old to go clubbing?"

"Not for the clubs I'm thinking about."

"I assume there's a reason you want to do this tonight?"

"You know me so well."

"Do we want to make it a group thing? I can have Blake and Reid finish up here."

"That's not a bad idea. We can actually split up and cover more clubs that way."

"Or we can watch each other's backs if we stay together."

"Why don't we play that by ear? How's 9:00 sound?"

"Ok. Where?"

"I'll meet you in your parking garage, we need to use your personal vehicles; the company SUV's will be too noticeable."

"Alright, we'll be here."

XXX

Kahlan passed out a picture to each member of the team who had joined her in the parking garage. "This is a hit man that is believed to have been hired to kill a federal agent."

"Yeah, and where did that information come from?" Morgan asked her as he looked at the photo.

"The Organized Crime Division of the DC police," Kahlan told him flatly.

"Rumor has it that he was here a couple of weeks ago, and then he was spotted in New York." She let that sink in. "And he showed back up here three days ago."

"And he likes going to these clubs?" JJ asked her.

"Yep. He's been spotted in two of them. I say we split up and check them both out and see if we can find him."

"And if we find him?" Morgan asked.

Kahlan raised her brows and pursed her lips. "That would be your call. I sent his picture to Garcia, but I get the feeling he's a pro."

"And if we arrest him without being sure, he would never give up Hotch," Morgan finished her thought.

Kahlan shrugged. "I would think some stealthy surveillance could give us more of a clue as to what the next step should be."

"I agree. If we follow him, he might lead us to Hotch," JJ agreed.

"There's a reason you think this professional hit man hasn't killed Hotch yet?" Rossi asked her and he saw a flicker of a wince on her face.

"If he's actually responsible for the deaths they think he is, then, yes."

"Ut-uh. What aren't you telling us?" Morgan demanded.

Kahlan closed her eyes for a moment and bit her lip. Finally she fixed them all with a blank face. "Because he likes to spend time with his marks before he actually kills them. It's sort of his specialty."

"Son of a bitch!" Morgan yelled and balled the picture up in his fist and swung his arm like he wanted to throw it, but decided against it.

Kahlan notice that JJ's eyes watered and Rossi took a deep breath, not actively letting his feelings show. "They have never been able to connect him to any of the murders, of course, but that is what they think he does." She gave them a few moments to let their emotions settle. "Rossi and I will take the Lux. You two can take the Josephine. I've texted the address to you. You need to go in in complete cover. These clubs are known for their clientele, and they would never let in FBI agents without a search warrant, and that would just defeat the purpose."

"Yeah, we got, ya. Two people looking to have some fun," Morgan flashed her his smile.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman in the club tonight. "Here, this will get you in the door easier," she held her hand out to Morgan. He gave her a questioningly look but held out his hand. She gave him a thousand dollar bill. He raised his brows in shock, but put the bill in his pocket.

"Keep me updated," Rossi told JJ. She nodded and headed for Morgan SUV. "You driving or me?" He asked Kahlan.

"Your car's fancier than mine, besides it will look better with you driving when we pull up for the valet." She told him as she walked to the passenger side of his car.

Once they were in and seated. Rossi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "My car may be fancier, but you could afford one, too."

Kahlan smiled. She noticed it was a statement. "Hazardous pay that is saved over the years tends to generate a lot of interest," is all she divulged. Rossi laughed and started his car.


	29. Chapter 29

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 29**

Hotch awoke to the sound of a door closing heavily. He watched the man study him as he approached. "You should be glad that vest is as strong as I thought would be."

"Yeah, why's that?" Hotch asked and the man could hear the pain in Hotch's voice.

"Cause it even stopped two slugs point blank," he told him plainly. _Shit! No wonder I hurt so bad!_ Hotch thought as the man came up to him. He removed the vest and Hotch didn't fight him; he didn't think his chest could handle any more abuse. "This next experiment won't be so physical," the man told him as he reached into the bag again. Hotch saw him remove a little metal box, and he watched him closely. Anything that could fit in the little box probably meant a lot of pain. The man opened it and withdrew something as he smiled again. He showed Hotch the little white bottle. "This is something of my own making," he started to explain. Hotch held his breath, he could think of a lot of liquids that could be made, and none of them were good. "It contains Lysergic acid diethylamide," _LSD? What the hell?_ "Phencyclidine," _And PCP?_ "Amphetamine, and extracts from the psilocybe and amanita muscaria mushrooms," the man explained.

"That's one hell of a hallucinogenic cocktail," Hotch started as he tried to keep the fear out of his voice. "What exactly are you experimenting with it?"

"Well, the formula hasn't been perfected yet. The last three people I've tried it on have died," he explained in a tone that told Hotch that he had no empathy.

_A true psychopath!_ "You don't need to give me that, really, I'm good," Hotch tried to sound brave.

"You've probably never experimented with drugs, huh?"

"No, and I really don't want to start now."

"Your first trip will be a rush," the man told him with a smile. "You won't even know where you are, but God knows what you'll see and hear. It's different for every person." He walked up to Hotch with the bottle.

**XXXXX**

Kahlan took Rossi's arm as they walked up to the door. To her surprise, a young woman was in charge of the crowd.

"Oh my God! You're that author!" the girl yelled with a big smile. Rossi froze. "My mom read one of your books; I remember your face from the back." Rossi smiled but shot a look to Kahlan. If the woman yelled that he was an FBI agent, their cover was blown. "You write crime stories, right?"

Rossi visibly relaxed. "Guilty as charged," he told the woman with a charming smile.

She ripped off a piece of paper from her clip board. "Would you sign this for me? My mom will flip."

"Of course," Rossi told her as he accepted the clip board and pen. "What's your mother's name?"

The woman told him and Rossi signed it and handed it back with a smile. She never even gave Kahlan a glance as she opened the rope stopping people from going into the club. "Have a great night," she told him and they made their way into the club.

**XXXXX**

Psycho, as Hotch had started calling the man in his head, took a cap off the bottle and Hotch noticed it was a dropper. "I have found, though, that the fastest way for the drug to take effect is through the eyes."

_Fuck!_ Hotch could even begin to recall all of the things hallucinogens could do to a person. _Increased heart rate and blood pressure, lack of motor control, lung failure. . . Fuck!_

Psycho yanked hard on Hotch's hair pulling his head back. Hotch squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could. It didn't stop Psycho, though, as he held Hotch's head back with his hip, forced open one of his eyes with one hand, and dropped several drops of his cocktail in with his other hand. As soon as he let Hotch go, Hotch bent his head down, opened his eyes, and shook his head violently, trying to get some of the burning liquid out. He knew it was too late; he could feel an icy sensation building behind his eye. His breathing quickened, but he wasn't sure if it was the drug or his fear.

Psycho just stood back and watched. Hotch wondered if the people suffered before their deaths or if they just stopped breathing while they were under the effects of the drug. Hotch tried to steady his breathing as he focused on his body. He almost smiled as he relaxed. _Ha! I don't feel anything yet!_ He started giggling, and Psycho gave him a puzzling look. That just made Hotch giggle even harder. _What the hell is so funny Hotchner?_ He asked himself, but burst out laughing. He was nicely surprised to realize his chest didn't hurt anymore, but he felt like he was starting to float and he had to wonder if he was even still sitting down. Psycho smiled again as he looked at his watch and made a notation in a little notebook.

Hotch tried to get a handle on his thoughts, but he felt them swirling around him as he started to shake. Psycho went to Hotch and undid his cuffs and leg shackles. Hotch just stared at him. He was telling himself that he needed to get up. That he needed to fight and escape, but his shaking body just wouldn't respond. Things weren't funny anymore, either. He felt himself paralyzed by fear as he heard Jack crying and screaming out for him. _Jack's here? When did he get Jack? _Hotch felt tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked around for his son. Jack was being hurt and he couldn't make his body listen to him. The shakes soon became tremors and Hotch fell out of the chair. He curled up on the floor, crying and screaming. Every unsub he had ever had the pleasure of putting away was taunting him, hurting him, and hurting his son. Hotch didn't even notice Psycho setting up a video recorder, and he didn't notice him leaving either. He was lost in his own mind.

**XXXXX**

After about an hour of being in the club, Rossi received a text from JJ that they had found the hit man, so Rossi and Kahlan were going to head over to help follow. As they finally paid the check and the valet finally brought Rossi's car around, he received another text saying that they had lost him. "Son of a bitch!" Rossi said aloud as he read the text.

Kahlan knew by the look on his face what had happened. "You want to go back in and see if he shows?"

"Do I have to?" Rossi asked with a small smile.

Kahlan had to admit that the music had even given her a headache. "Let's just find someplace to park and see if we see him."

He nodded and got in the car. He pulled down the block, paralleled parked, and shut of the engine. He adjusted the rear view mirror to get a better view of the street. Kahlan also reached out and adjusted the side mirror so she could see, too. She drummed her fingers on her thigh.

Rossi turned the key to let the radio play. Kahlan gave him a smile, but turned to watch the street. He wondered why Kahlan hated silence so much. "So how many of your aliases are still active?" He noticed she smiled, but she didn't take her eyes off the street.

"Probably all of them. They keep them updated in case they have to be used again."

"So officially, you are still part of every agency?" She shrugged. "I didn't have to come sign you in. You could have walked through the building unhindered."

"I could have, but the DNI would have gotten an alert. He wouldn't have any idea what it was about because he has no idea who I am, but he might have looked into it, and that would have led to a bunch of unneeded questions for us both."

Rossi considered her for a moment. He never liked the people he had met in the CIA. They were the stereotypical sleazy spies that the movies always portrayed so well, but he couldn't picture Kahlan ever being sleazy. She was very likeable, dangerous as hell he knew, but likeable. _And that is probably what makes her so good at her job._ "Have they ever called you back?"

"Tenet tried once when Wyatt was one," is all she said.

Rossi couldn't leave it at that. "Tried?"

"I reminded him of a couple of files I had in my possession, and he chose someone else."

He chuckled. He could only imagine what she had on the man. _Hell, she probably has a bunch of shit on a bunch of people._ That was another reason he didn't like spies. They always had shit on each other. He supposed that was a defense mechanism needed for protection. In the world of espionage, there were only a few people you could trust: yourself and your team.

"Keep your hands off of me!" she yelled and got out of the car, slamming the door.

_What the hell?_ Rossi got out of his door, and as soon as he was going to ask her what had happened he noticed who was walking up the street. "Oh honey, don't be like that," Rossi played along as he advanced on her.

She backed up to the wall of the building she was in front of and Rossi went up and put his hands on her arms. "Leave me alone!" she cried as she tried to get away from Rossi and realized she had the hit man's attention.

"Come on, get back in the car and we'll talk about it," Rossi told her trying to force her away from the wall and back towards the car.

She reached up and slapped Rossi across the face. "Go talked to your wife!" she yelled and wrenched herself out of his hands, turned, and ran into the hit man. She gave him a shocked look as if she didn't realize he was there.

"You need some help?" the hit man asked her nicely as he glared at Rossi.

Kahlan gave Rossi a glare, too. "No thank you. He was just leaving."

Rossi looked back and forth between Kahlan and the hit man. "Keep the bitch," he told him and got in his car and drove off.

Kahlan sighed as she watched Rossi drive away and then smiled at the man who had come to her rescue. "Thank you." she said again and went to turn away.

"You're welcome. Anything for a beautiful woman. Let me buy you a drink?" he asked with a smile.

His smile sent a chill down her spine. She instantly disliked the man. "Sure," she said with another smile. She wanted to kill him on the spot, but she knew it would be next to impossible for them to find Aaron without him.

She put her hand in the crock of his elbow and allowed him to walk her into the little club down the block. She mentally sighed once she knew he wasn't going to the Lux; the woman at the door might have recognized her. He led her to a table and a waitress came up for their drink order. Kahlan ordered a cosmo and the man ordered a Jack and coke.

After a little small talk she told him she had to go. He didn't argue and let her leave. She quickly made her way around the block and smiled when she saw Rossi's car.

"Well, that was just fun," she told him sarcastically as she got in and sat down.

Rossi smiled at her. When she had slapped him she had done it where there was a lot of noise, but hardly any pain. "So we wait?"

"Nah, let's go meet up with Morgan and JJ," she said with a smile. She took out her phone and Rossi noticed a blip on a map.

"Nice!" he said with a smile and pulled away.

XXX

Rossi and Kahlan sat across for JJ and Morgan; Kahlan's phone sat on the table in the middle. The blip hadn't moved from the club. "We all need one of those. Then we would have to worry about trying to find one of us," JJ told them.

"That type only has about a week's worth of battery life, so they wouldn't do much good," Kahlan explained.

"And you just happened to have one on you tonight?" Morgan asked with a smile.

"I carry one in my pocket all the time," she joked. Again, Rossi couldn't tell of she was actually joking of not. "I have considered injecting Wyatt with a life time one after he came up missing," she said with a small laugh.

"When you do, get me one for Henry, too," JJ said with a laugh.

Morgan's phone rang. "You're on speaker, Baby Girl."

"I've traced all of the vans. Every one checked out except for the lock smith van. It was reported stolen two days ago."

"Not to worry, Kitten. We think we have the man responsible."

"Ohhhh, you found Mr. Creepy Smile?"

Kahlan laughed as she completely understood the name Garcia had given him. "Yeah, we're watching him now."

"We have our female," Reid's voice came over the phone. Every one of them sat up a little more and stared at the phone. "It seems that Robert Adams had an older sister, and Garcia did some checking. She was in Virginia two weeks ago, but has since gone back to Idaho."

Kahlan looked at the profilers, expecting one of them to explain who Robert Adams was, but she could tell they were trying to remember. She shook her head. "Who was Robert Adams, Reid?"

"He was the unsub in Boise who killed survivors of a school shooting in 2001." She noticed the recollection on all of their faces.

"Hotch had to shoot him to protect himself," Morgan elaborated. "Reid, you and Blake need to call the local PD and have them pick her up. Then I want you two to head out there first thing in the morning to interview her."

"Alright. You guys getting close to finding Hotch?"

"We should have him by the time you all get back," Rossi assured him.

They all heard the collective sigh of relief coming from the three at the BAU.

"Stay in touch," Morgan told them and the call ended.


	30. Chapter 30

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 30**

Rossi was the first one to notice the blip move on the screen. He sat up and stared at the screen and watched the man make his way down the street.

Kahlan could tell the agents wanted to jump and start to follow him. "There's no sense in letting him have a chance to notice us. Let him get to where ever he is going, and then we'll move," she told them in her motherly tone.

"What's the range on that thing?" Morgan asked, clearly impatient. They were already a few blocks away from the man.

"About five miles. Calm down, Morgan. Now is not the time to try and rush things."

He huffed but stayed in his seat. Kahlan could tell they were all worried about what was happening to Hotch in the man's absence. She was worried, too, but she couldn't let her feelings rule her. If she had done that, she would have killed the man on the street just for all of the things he was suspected of doing. She pulled out her phone and called her son to help pass the time. JJ took the hint and called her husband.

After she hung up Rossi asked where Wyatt was. "He's with my sister and her family in Manassas."

**XXXXX**

The hit man looked at his watch. He figured he still had a few hours before he had to worry about Hotch. The effects of LSD itself could last for twelve hours, let alone all of the other things he had mixed in the bottle. He decided to go and get a couple hours of sleep in his rented room.

**XXXXX**

Hotch was trashing about on the floor, trying to get the hallucinated rats off of him. He managed to rip his shirt and his skin to pieces in the process. Once the rats were gone, though, he found himself and his team enveloped in darkness so thick it felt like ink. Out of the corner of his eyes he kept seeing flying misty figures. He could hear their eerie voices, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. He slowly lost every one of his team members in the darkness. He called out for them, but they apparently couldn't hear him. He cried uncontrollably as he desperately tried to find them.

**XXXX**

The blip had stayed stationary for over twenty minutes and Rossi decided it was long enough. They left the restaurant and made their way to the location in Morgan's SUV. They pulled up on the curb down the street. They could clearly see it was a place for sleeping rooms. "You don't think he's got Hotch in there do you?" JJ asked from the back seat.

"I wouldn't think so," Morgan told her.

"Do you think he noticed you following him?" Kahlan asked them.

"No way," Morgan assured her and got a smile on his face. He thought he knew where she was leading with the question.

"Be careful," Rossi told him as he got out of the vehicle.

"Always," Morgan told him with his famous smile.

They all watched him cross the street and approach the office. Within minutes he disappeared into the building.

Morgan made his way to room 5-C, and knocked roughly on the door. "Spence! Open up, damn it. I know you're in there!"

The door was thrown open and the hit man, looking thoroughly pissed, looked Morgan up and down.

Morgan searched the little room with his eyes quickly. "You're not Spence!"

"Obviously not!"

"Sorry man. Spence was here last week. You know where he is?" Morgan asked as he slurred his speech a little.

"No, and if you know what's good for you, you'll leave," the man told him menacingly.

"Dude! No need to be so pissy!" Morgan told him and headed down the hall.

The whole car visibly relaxed as Morgan made his way back to the SUV. "Nope," is all he said as he shut the door.

"Damn!" Rossi said as he hit the dash.

"You better pull out of here. We can keep an eye on him from a few roads away," Kahlan told Morgan and he started the vehicle and drove away.

**XXXXX**

The darkness dissolved around Hotch, and he found himself in an ancient gnarled forest. He was still searching for his team, but all he kept finding were victims of unsubs. Horrible, mutilated bodies lay everywhere. He cried for them, for the suffering he couldn't stop before they finally found each of the unsubs. When he came to a pile of dead children being consumed by a massive tree's roots, he fell to his knees. He threw up as he realized the tree and the pile of children kept growing. The dead faces were asking him, "Why didn't you save us? Why can't you stop the pain?"

"I'm sorry!" Hotch cried out to them. "I'm so sorry!"

**XXXXX**

Three hours later, Morgan noticed the blip move. He hit Rossi's leg to wake him up. The movement also woke up Kahlan and JJ. They watched the blip go out onto the street and it started moving too fast for him to be walking. Morgan started the SUV and pulled out his parking space. They followed him at a distance for over forty minutes. Rossi shook his head as he realized he was heading back towards Quantico. Morgan pulled over once they realized the blip had stopped. They waited and watched. The blip slowly moved from the street and apparently entered a building that wasn't on the map. After five minutes of the blip not leaving Morgan pulled out and approached the building slowly. The dark building looked abandoned, and he drove past it and turned onto the first street past it. They all looked at each other, and Kahlan opened her door to get out.

"Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Morgan asked her.

"To go see if Hotch is in there," she told him slowly, wondering why it was even questioned. She got out and shut the door. Morgan shot a look to Rossi. Rossi sighed heavily and they got out of the vehicle.

"There are procedures. We need to get a warrant. . ." Morgan started as he made his way around the vehicle towards her.

Rossi was about to say something when he saw a pistol in Kahlan's hand. He almost chuckled when he noticed it was a Walther PPK. _Really, James Bond's gun?_ _She must have had it in an ankle holster._

"You go right ahead and do that," she told Morgan with a smile.

"We need to wait for SWAT," JJ told her.

"You might need to. I don't."

Morgan and JJ both looked at Rossi, apparently thinking he could say something to persuade her.

Rossi looked at Kahlan. He could see the determination in her eyes. He reached and pulled his pistol out of its holster.

Morgan was shocked. "We don't even have probable cause!"

"I can't ask you to join me," Kahlan started. "But if you think Hotch has time for all of those procedures, then you go ahead and wait. I'm going in," she told them and walked towards the building.

Rossi looked from JJ to Morgan. "The procedures be damned!" he told them and followed Kahlan.

Morgan ran a hand over his bald head as he watched them leave. None of them even had their vests with them. He looked at JJ. JJ shocked her head and took out her own pistol. Morgan nodded and they ran to catch up with Kahlan and Rossi.

The four of them quietly made their way to the building's side entrance. Rossi checked the door, but it was locked.

One look at the steel door, and they knew there would be no breaking it down. Kahlan smiled and pulled a lock pick set out of her back pocket. Morgan shot Rossi another shocked look as Kahlan bent down and picked the lock. Within seconds they were in the building's stairwell. Morgan opened the door to the first floor. Without words, they made their way quickly through and returned to the stairs.

**XXXXX**

Psycho made his way over to Hotch. He was lying on his stomach, and for a moment Psycho thought he was dead. With a quick feel of Hotch's pulse, he knew that Hotch was still alive and when Hotch screamed out, Psycho knew he was still tripping. He smiled as he looked at his watch.

**XXXXX**

The foursome made through five more floors, and JJ was beginning to wonder if the hit man was even in the building. Once they got to the seventh floor, they heard a bone chilling scream as Rossi opened the door. "That enough probable cause for you?" Kahlan asked Morgan vehemently.

"Yeah," Morgan said as he winced at the sound and they prepare to enter the floor.

Kahlan followed Rossi down one hallway, and JJ followed Morgan down another. Another scream quickened their pace. Both groups emerged at the end to find a large opened area in front of a bank of windows. They immediately noticed Hotch lying on the floor. The hit man was rummaging through a bag as he knelt down with his back facing them.

"Freeze! Federal Agents!" Morgan yelled as he, Rossi and JJ stepped forward with their guns aimed at the man. Kahlan started making her way behind them to Hotch.

The hit man froze. "Let me see your hands!" Rossi yelled. The man slowly raised his hands, they were empty. Morgan ran up to him and cuffed him. Kahlan ran to Hotch. He was lying faced down, but his body was twitching slightly. She noticed a pile of puke not far from his face. She knelt down and rolled him over gently. Her breath hitched in her chest as she saw his purple and black torso and all of the scratches all over him. "Aaron?" She asked as tears fell from her eyes. Hotch convulsed a little and she held on to him tightly.

"What did you do to him?" Rossi demanded of the man.

"Once your able to find out, it will probably too late," he told them with a smile.

JJ had her phone out calling for an ambulance. Morgan held onto the man and Rossi rushed over to Kahlan and Hotch.

"Aaron? It's ok, help is coming," Kahlan tried to tell him. She wasn't sure if he could hear her or not.

Suddenly Hotch was fighting her. She tried to hold him, but he was too strong and broke away from her. Rossi moved in behind him and wrapped his arms around Hotch's chest, effectively holding him in a bear hug. "Hotch! Hotch, it's us. You're safe now." Rossi tried to tell him in his ear.

Kahlan noticed Rossi's eyes tearing up. She took one more look at Hotch, and her anger became more than she could handle. She jumped up and advanced on the man responsible. "Morgan, you and JJ need to go down and show the medics how to get up here," She told him in an icy tone as she stared at the smiling man.

Morgan didn't know what to think of her. He could see the danger in her eyes. He didn't blame her, he wanted to kill the man, too, but he couldn't just let her kill a defenseless man who was already in custody.

"I'm not going to kill him, but we know to know what he's given Hotch!" She didn't want Morgan and JJ to be witness to what she was about to do, but she would do it with them there or not. "Rossi!"

"Go Morgan, JJ, get those damn medics up here!" Rossi yelled to them. Morgan shot him a look then looked back at Kahlan. She smiled like a cobra about to strike, but if Rossi trusted her, then he had to, too. He shoved the man to his knees and let go of him. JJ met Morgan at the stairs, and with one more look at Kahlan they went out the door.

The hit man smiled at her. "You think you can make me talk, bitch?"

She could tell he recognized her from earlier. "Yeah I do," she told him with a smile.

He blanched as she took out a knife hidden at her waist. "You can't hurt me. That would be against my rights!" he demanded.

"Did somebody inform you that you have rights?" she asked coldly.

The realization made him fill with fear. "Your Federal Agents, you can't do this!" he yelled, and she kicked him in the face and made him fall over onto his back.

"I never said I was an agent." Kahlan told him as she knelt down beside him. She winced as Hotch screamed again. She used her knife to cut through the man's belt.

"You should just tell her what she wants to know!" Rossi yelled at him. Rossi wasn't sure what she was going to do to the man, but he had a feeling she would make him talk eventually no matter how tough the man was.

She was slicing through the man's jeans, and he was frozen with fear. He didn't want to fight her and have her stab him. "Alright!" he screamed, his voice a few octaves higher than what it was before. Kahlan stopped and looked at him. "It's a mixture of hallucinogens."

"When?" _Shit!_ She wanted to scream.

"About ten hours ago."

"Don't move," she told him as she got up and started rummaging through the man's bag. She found the little white bottle. "This?"

"Yes."

She opened it and noticed the dropper and knew how he had administered the drug. She noticed Hotch had settled down and Rossi was just holding him. She walked back to the hit man. "What is your name," she asked him as she knelt down and threatened his manhood with the point of her knife.

He didn't think she was bluffing. "Pat. Patrick O'Harin," he told her as he almost cried.

She looked at the weak man with disgust. She held the knife up and swung down hard at his face. She had turned the knife around and slammed the hilt of it into the man's temple, knocking him out. She glanced at Rossi. He gave her a smile of approval. She gave him a devilish grin and opened one of the man's eyes and but two drops of the liquid in it. Rossi laughed. She ran back over to Hotch and knelt down next to Rossi.

Hotch's breathing was slowing down. She reached up and felt his pulse. It was weak and erratic. "Come on, Aaron. You're safe now. Just hold on, help's on the way," she told him tenderly as she caressed the side of his face.

Hotch started shaking again and he reached up and grabbed her hand forcibly. She looked at Rossi with concern. Hotch's eyes started to flutter open. His eyes were darting around, and they couldn't tell if he saw them or not. "They're all dead," he said weakly.

"No, Aaron. They're fine. It's just a dream," Rossi told him tenderly as he stroked Hotch's hair. Kahlan noticed Rossi's tears and she felt her own fall down her face.

"Dead. . . dead. . ." Hotch said as he closed his eyes and started sobbing against Rossi's stomach.

"It's ok," Rossi tried to sooth him. "It's ok, they're fine." They had no idea who Hotch was talking about, but he stopped shaking so much as Rossi continued to stroke his hair.

Morgan and JJ busted through the door followed by two medics. They rushed over to Hotch. "He's OD-ing on hallucinogens," Kahlan told them as they got out of the way to let the medics in to do their work. One of the medics nodded and took a syringe out and jabbed it into Hotch's chest.

Morgan walked over to the hit man and checked for a pulse. He had actually thought Kahlan had killed him. He didn't want to know why the man's pants had been sliced open. The man let out a small whimper and started to shake. Morgan knew why, too, as he shot a look to Rossi and Kahlan.

"What? Apparently he had taken some of his own drugs," Rossi told him innocently. Morgan noticed Kahlan's face didn't give anything away.


	31. Chapter 31

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 31**

Rossi rode with Hotch to the hospital. He had lapsed into unconsciousness before they had him on the gurney. While Rossi knew Hotch wasn't out of the woods yet, he was glad the hallucinations were over. He knew hallucinogens could last for a while, but he figured the shot of adrenaline and the fluids being given to him were helping to flush the drugs from his system. He knew LSD wasn't addictive and there were no withdrawals, but he wasn't sure about the other things in the mixture Hotch was given. He thought, hopefully, that since the other things were also hallucinogens, that they would have the same results.

He had no clue as to what had happened to Hotch's chest. He looked as though he had been beaten with a bat, but there were no clear long bruises. Most of the bruises, in fact, were circular in pattern. Hotch's torso and arms were also covered with scratches, but one look at Hotch's fingers told Rossi that Hotch had done that himself in one of the hallucinations he'd been trapped in. Rossi knew Hotch never even took headache medicine, so he had no doubt the powerful drugs wreaked havoc on his poor friend.

Rossi smiled to himself as he remembered Kahlan giving the hit man some of his own drug. An eye for an eye is a powerful thing. He wasn't sure what lengths Kahlan would have gone to to make the man talk, so Rossi was actually glad the man turned out to be such a wuss. He was glad he didn't have to explain anything too drastic.

The ambulance pulled up the ER entrance and Rossi jumped out to get out of the medics way. They wheeled Hotch around a corner and Rossi went to the nurses' station to give them the information they needed on Hotch. Not even five minutes later, Kahlan came rushing through the doors. With Rossi's puzzled look, she told him that Morgan let her use his SUV. She held up a kevlar vest for Rossi to see. Rossi quickly counted ten slugs in it and he knew what had damaged his friend's chest. Each of the slugs were different levels of smashed, telling Rossi that the man had shot Hotch from different distances and two looked like they were shot at point blank range. Rossi felt his anger boil. He had never heard of a vest failing, but he didn't think he had ever heard of one being shot ten times, either.

"I should have killed the son of a bitch!" Kahlan said disgusted.

"We might have had a problem if you did that," Rossi told her, but he knew exactly how she felt.

Suddenly, the doors opened and Kahlan could hear screams of terror. Her head snapped to the entrance and she realized it was the hit man. They were wheeling him in and around the corner, and Kahlan couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips. Apparently Pat was having some terrifying hallucinations.

Rossi actually chuckled. "Serves him right for going after Hotch. The world would be a nicer place if they would just realize you don't mess with the BAU and its family," he said proudly.

Kahlan laughed at him.

"Or it's girlfriends," he added quickly.

XXX

Garcia had grabbed Kevin and went to retrieve Rossi's car from DC, and then they headed to the hospital. Morgan and JJ had ridden with a local police officer after turn the scene over to them for processing. Figure prints of Pat O'Harin connected him to six other murders, and they were sure the DNA sample they took from him was going to tie him to several more. Police from everywhere were calling Morgan and congratulating the BAU for catching such an elusive killer. When he told Rossi and Kahlan about it, Kahlan just shrugged.

"We wouldn't have caught him if it wasn't for you," Morgan told her seriously. She tried to play it off. "Your picture, your bug, your tactics, period!" Everyone else agreed.

"You would have found him eventually," she assured Morgan.

"Yeah," Morgan agreed honestly. "But I hate to think what else would have happened to him in the wait."

Before Kahlan could say anything else a doctor came out to give them an update. He looked at the motley crew who all claimed to be Aaron Hotchner's family. He smiled though because he could tell they all cared deeply for him. "We are pushing fluids on him to flush his system. We have sent him down to x-ray because I do believe some of his ribs are broken. He is also having trouble breathing, but I think that is just from the pain of the trauma to his chest. Since I didn't want to add narcotics to his system, I have put him into a medically induce coma to alleviate his pain. Once he is clean of the drugs, we'll do tox screens every half-hour, we'll be able to give him pain meds and wake him up."

"Will there be lasting effects of the drugs on him?" JJ asked as she thought back to Reid's addiction.

"Normally hallucinogens have not addictive qualities or side effects. I have heard that long time abusers have flash backs of their hallucinations, but I would think that wouldn't be a problem for Mr. Hotchner." He noticed they all visibly relaxed a little.

"Will he remember what he hallucinated?" Kahlan asked. She had seen the fear in his face and heard it in his voice, and she didn't want him reliving that.

"I've heard it can go either way. Since this is his first time experiencing the drug, though, the possibility is greater that he will remember. He should remember that they were just hallucinations, though." When no more questions were asked, he went back to Hotch.

Kahlan ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "He's gonna be ok, Kiddo," Rossi told her and pulled her into a hug.

"Why don't you all go get some coffee or a bite to eat," Garcia told them. When they looked like they were going to argue, she continued. "Kevin and I will stay here; I'll send you a text if we need you or learn anything else."

Rossi nodded, and herded them out of the waiting room down to the cafeteria. He looked at his watch and realized they'd be serving breakfast already. Nobody wanted to eat, though, so they all got coffee and Kahlan got a hot tea.

Rossi walked up to her as she fixed her tea and took several pills out of her pocket. She dry swallowed them because her tea was too hot. "You know, after we found Wyatt, I didn't think I'd need those damn pills anymore. Being around you all, though, I think I'll probably need them for the rest of my life."

Rossi knew about her ulcer and he felt sorry for her. "It's not always this stressful," he told her with a smile.

"It better not be. He still owes me dinner," she joked and joined the others at the table.

XXX

After waiting for another hour with no change in Hotch's status, Rossi sent everyone home. Kahlan wasn't having any of it, though, so the two waited in the waiting room for several hours. Finally, the doctor came back out to them. "Mr. Hotchner has five cracked ribs and two broken ones. He is free of the drugs and he should be waking up shorty. He is receiving pain meds through an IV, so I don't know how lucid he is going to be, but you are welcome to see him as soon as they get him transferred to a room. I will send a nurse out as soon as we know which one."

They gave him their thanks and Rossi texted the team with an update. Within five minutes a nurse told them which room Hotch was in. Rossi and Kahlan walked in and they could tell Hotch was trying to wake up. His eyes were closed, but he was scowling. Kahlan laughed at the look on Hotch's face. Rossi went up to him and took his friend's hand. "That's right. Wake your lazy ass up," Rossi joked using the same line as the last time Hotch was unconscious.

"If I was as lazy as you say I am, Dave, I'd never get anything done," Hotch told him weakly, but smiled.

"You're not actually awake if you don't open your eyes, you know," Kahlan told him.

His smiled widened enough to show his dimples when he heard her voice. "I'm trying, but their too heavy."

She went up and grabbed his other hand. "Then just rest. We'll be here when you wake up."

"K" is all he said and his grip relaxed as he fell back to sleep.

They both pulled up chairs and waited for Hotch to wake up. He jerked in his sleep, but settled as soon as Rossi grabbed his hand. Almost two hours later, he woke up to find them both asleep. He smiled at them and laid his head back. His chest was killing him, but he realized he was on pain meds because it didn't hurt that much to breathe normally. He took a deep breath to see how far he could get. His right side hurt worse than his left. All of his muscles were sore, too, and he knew it was from all of the shaking the drugs had caused his body to do. He knew the fatigued feeling would go away, but he wasn't sure how long his chest would take to heal. He took another deep breath. _Definitely light duty for a while_. He felt he was being watched and smiled as he saw Kahlan was awake. He hadn't even moved, and yet she knew he was awake.

"Hey there," she said softly and got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck," he told her with a grin.

"Close," she started. "Ten bullets could be considered a car at least."

"Ten? Damn, no wonder."

"You didn't know how many?"

"Nah. I passed out after four."

"Lucky you."

"Very lucky," he agreed. "Sorry I messed up my surprise."

"I saw your house. That was very sweet."

"Would have been an awesome night," he told her with another grin.

"I bet. Once you're healed up, I'll have to model those two outfits for you."

Hotch's eyes grew wider.

"And before you two can go any further with that conversation, I'll let you know I'm awake," Rossi told them sitting up in his chair.

Kahlan laughed and Hotch blushed. "Hey, Dave."

Rossi got up and grabbed Hotch's hand. "How are you?"

"I'll heal," Hotch told him. "I assume you got the son of a bitch."

"Oh yeah. He's somewhere else in the hospital recovering from the effects of some drug he mixed," Rossi told him with a grin.

Hotch looked back and forth between the two. He wasn't sure which one had done it, and neither face gave it away. He also knew that neither one would say. He nodded. "He said he was hired," Hotch told them seriously.

Rossi nodded. "Reid and Blake should be there now. It was Robert Adams' sister."

Kahlan could tell by the look on Hotch's face that he knew exactly who Rossi was talking about. "Wow, two years for her want for revenge to grow." Hotch shook his head. "What a waste."

"Yeah, well, if everyone were sane, we wouldn't have a job," Rossi told him with a small smile.

The doctor came in to check on Hotch and Kahlan and Rossi waited in the hall. "You can tell them the truth, you know. I'm a big girl. I can live with their thoughts against me."

"Yeah, I know, but it's just so much fun to watch them try to figure it out," Rossi told him with a grin. "It's a good thing you don't work with us." Kahlan gave him a hurt look. "I'd get in way too much trouble with you around."

She laughed. "Yeah. I couldn't work with your team either. Too damn many rules."


	32. Chapter 32

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 32**

Once the doctor was done, Kahlan and Rossi went back in and Kahlan told Hotch that she would be up later. She gave him another kiss on his cheek and patted Rossi on the shoulder as she left. "See you later, Kiddo," Rossi told her with a smile. He looked at Hotch once the door was shut. "You've got yourself one remarkable woman there, Aaron. You better not screw this up," Rossi told him seriously.

Hotch studied his friend for a moment. "I don't plan on it. What did she do?"

"If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have found you." Hotch's look told him that he needed to explain. "First of all, she was the one to call me because you wouldn't answer your phone. We went to your house and knew something had happened. We were clueless, though. We figured it was your stalker, but we had no idea even where to start."

"I figured. Hell, even when I saw the guy, I still wasn't sure what it was about."

"Well, Kahlan went to her CIA friend again, and found satellite footage of the guy kidnapping you in a white van."

"I'd like to meet this friend of hers someday."

"Yeah, and by him a beer," Rossi told him with a smile. "Anyway, while we were checking out the van; Garcia found several and hunted down every last one of them. She narrowed it down to one that had been stolen."

"Then how. . ." Hotch started. He knew a stolen van would have been a dead end.

"Because Chuck found out from some of his buddies on the force that there was a woman looking for a hit man who wouldn't care about killing an FBI agent. That the woman wanted revenge for the agent killing her brother, so Kahlan told us to focus on sisters of unsubs you had killed." Hotch nodded. "She had a picture of the hit man, too, and found out where he liked to hang out. We staked the places out. Morgan and JJ found him first, but they lost him." He paused to make sure Hotch understood it all. "Then she found him and slipped a bug on him that she could track with her phone. We found where he was staying, and when he finally left there; we followed him to you."

"She was with you the whole time?"

"Yep. Hell, she even picked the lock that allowed us into the building. Morgan couldn't have got it down if he'd tried," Rossi told him with a smile at Hotch's surprise.

"Morgan, JJ, and I took the man down, but he wouldn't tell us what he had given you. Kahlan got him to talk, though."

Hotch could tell Rossi wouldn't elaborate on that point.

"That way the medics knew how to treat you. Then you were brought here."

Hotch ran a hand down his face. "I really don't want to consider what that psycho would have done to me next," Hotch told him in a low voice. "I thought being shot with a vest on was bad, but I'd do that a hundred times again to never, ever have to suffer hallucinogens again."

Rossi studied his friends face. "They were really bad, huh?"

"My worst nightmare, a thousand fold. Every horror I've ever seen with this job was there, twisted and emphasized. I've never been more frightened in my life," Hotch told him, his voice shaking.

Rossi shook his head. "You were still in them when we found you. It was horrible knowing you were fighting something and knowing I couldn't help you," Rossi told him as his eyes teared up.

"Whoever said drugs gave you a sense of euphoria, fucking lied."

That made Rossi smile. "Well, I think we need to do something for Kahlan as a way of saying 'thanks'." Hotch smiled at that. "I meant the team. You can tank her in your own way later."

"She won't want the attention."

"Yeah, I know. You and her are too much alike in some ways." Rossi grinned. "She doesn't need to know about it until it's too late."

"Well, don't plan any parties until I'm outa here," Hotch told him seriously.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, we'll probably need you to pull it off."

XXX

After two more days in the hospital, Hotch was going stir crazy. He all but threatened the doctor to allow him to go home to finish healing. The doctor told him it would take time for his ribs to heal; he just had to be careful bending and lifting. He didn't care how easy he had to take it; he couldn't stand being in the hospital any longer. The constant in and out of the nurses led to him getting very little sleep. That and he kept having nightmares, although he would never admit it. He hoped it was the setting and that being home would allow him to relax more. He didn't get released until late in the afternoon, and Jessica and Jack took him home.

As soon as he opened the door, he could smell a roast cooking. The house was quiet, so he knew no one was there. He went straight to the kitchen and lifted the lid on the crockpot. Apparently Kahlan had provided them with dinner. He smiled. He had only seen her for a few hours each day, and other people where visiting at the same time, so he never got to talk to her about her involvement in finding him. Once he told Jessica goodbye, he took out his phone to call Kahlan.

"You don't expect me and Jack to eat all of this do you?"

She laughed. "Well, I wasn't sure who all would be there. You can have roast beef sandwiches for lunch for a few days."

"Why don't you and Wyatt join us?"

She could hear Jack in the background yelling 'please'. "You sure you don't want to just relax tonight?"

"Are you saying I can't relax around you?"

"I'm saying you haven't had a moment alone for almost three days, and I'd understand if you want to be alone."

He smiled. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to carry this pot all the way down to your house. . ."

"You'll do no such thing!" she yelled, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be lifting anything for a few days. "Fine. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"See you then."

Hotch opened the door after he heard the doorbell. Wyatt showed up first, he had ridden his bike. He ran in to play with Jack and Hotch waited on the porch as he watched Kahlan walk up the sidewalk. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You look tired," she told him as she withdrew.

"Yeah. You're supposed to rest and heal in the hospital but they don't let you sleep more than a couples hours at a time. Go figure." He blocked her from going to the door. "My lips aren't hurt," he told her as he looked into her eyes.

"Oh yeah?" she smiled. "Let me be the judge of that," she said as she put her arms around his waist gently and leaned up and gave him a passionate kiss. He leaned in and deepened the kiss as his left hand went to the side of her head and his right hand went to the small of her back. She finally pulled away. "Whoa! You're not cleared for that kind of activity yet," she told him with a grin. "But you're right, your lips still work perfectly."

Hotch groaned and tried to pull her back to him. "Just one more to tide me over."

"Just one." And she let him pull her close, but not close enough to hurt his chest. They kissed and their tongues fought for dominance.

He finally pulled away from her, breathing heavily. "Maybe we shouldn't have done that," he told her and she could see his breathing was making his ribs hurt.

"See! You should have just listened to me. If men would listen to woman more often, the world would be a better place."

"I bet. We better go inside before the boys wonder what happened to us."

He led her in and she made him sit at the table. "You want to eat now? I know that hospital food had to be boring, so I figured I fix you a nice dinner."

"My stomach did a fist pump as soon as I smelled it," he told her and he flashed his dimples.

She called for the boys and they sat down and had a nice dinner with the boys telling Hotch about the fort they wanted to build. With the look Kahlan gave him, he knew they had already told her all about it. Hotch finally agreed to think about it, and they settled to talking about wanting to learn how to skateboard. Kahlan gave Hotch a shocked look. Apparently they hadn't talk to her about that. Before either adult could tell them 'no', they quickly added they would wear helmets. That made Kahlan laugh. She told them she would think about it and dinner was finished without any more tag-teaming from the boys. They excused themselves and left Hotch and Kahlan alone.

"Ok, the whole fort thing was probably Wyatt's idea. He's wanted one since he was little, but he's never wanted a skateboard. Hell, Reliance didn't even have a place to even ride one. "

Hotch laughed. He could remember the small, dirt road town. "Jack's always watched the older boys on their skateboards, but he's never said anything about actually getting one. I thought the helmet thing was a good touch, though."

"Yeah. You been teaching Jack how to be a lawyer?"

Hotch laughed. "I figured that came from Wyatt, he always seems to know exactly what I'm thinking."

"No he doesn't. He just knows you're cautious. Anyone who is around you and Jack can tell that."

"He'd make a great profiler," Hotch told her seriously.

That made her laugh. "God, I hope he picks a nice safe job."

"You mean, take after his mommy?"

She blanched. "Yeah, he should definitely be a profiler." Hotch laughed as she got up to clean away the dishes. Hotch tried to help but she shot him a look and he sat back down. "You know what else they've been asking about?" She asked him from the kitchen.

"God, do I want to know?"

"You remember the park when they first met?"

"No. Is Jack going to be asking for a dog again?"

She smiled as she wiped off the table. "I was thinking of getting Wyatt one," she told him and before he could comment she sat down and gave him a serious look. "If you got him a dog, Wyatt could watch it while you're away."

"Yet, I feel there's another reason why."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That man would never have been able to surprise you."

Hotch sat back in his chair. "I would never get a guard dog."

"No! But even the friendliest dog in the world will bark when a stranger enters its yard," she told him seriously.

"Let me guess, they've already looked at some."

She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe."

"And you told Jack to let you handle talking to me about it?"

"Why do you think they left the table so quickly?" She got up and went into the kitchen to start the dishes.

Hotch shook his head. _If she's told Jack that Wyatt could watch him while I'm gone, there will be no stopping his begging._ He suddenly felt very outnumbered in his own house. He got up and walked to the kitchen. "So what kind of dog does he want?"

"He fell in love with this male black lab. He said it reminded him of Mudgie."

Hotch smiled, he knew Jack loved Rossi's dog, so he wasn't surprised. "And what kind does Wyatt want?"

"Oh, he took after his mother on that. There's a beautiful black and tan male Doberman he had his eye on." With Hotch's look of shock she continued. "And don't even look like that. I've owned several dobbies throughout my life. They are just like any dog; it's how they're raised and treated." He could tell not to challenge her from her tone. "Besides, maybe, eventually, Jack would be staying with us while you're away."

He smiled. "So when are you supposed to have an answer from me?"

"I told him I would bring it up, but that you would want to talk to him about it."

He studied her face. "And yet you still have a deadline?"

"Alright, the guy's only going to hold them until next weekend."

He smiled as he shook his head. She was as bad as the boys. "Fine, I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"I do need to tell you that I will get Wyatt one, no matter what your decision; but if you choose not to get Jack one, I'm sure Wyatt will gladly share his with Jack."

After an hour or so, Kahlan and Wyatt left so Jack could go to bed. Kahlan made Hotch promise to call her if he needed anything, and Hotch agreed. After Jack was in bed and the house was quiet, Hotch tried to watch a little TV, but he found himself dosing off so he went to bed.

XXX

Hotch tried to save the children from the roots. As soon as he stepped too close to the tree, a branch swung out and smacked him back. Hotch jerked himself awake with a scream. He laid in bed, breathing heavily, his chest hurting. He wasn't sure if he had screamed out loud, so he listened to see if he had disturbed Jack. As soon as he could, he got up and checked on his son. Hotch was relieved to see Jack sleeping peacefully. He walked to the kitchen and got himself a drink and realized it was 3:30. He knew the images weren't real, but he couldn't stop them from entering his mind as he slept.

With a sigh he turned on his family room light and decided to see if watching a little TV would calm him down. His cell phone rang suddenly. He jumped up to grab it and then cussed himself for moving so quickly as his ribs reminded him that he'd been too hurt to jump for anything. He noticed it was Kahlan, and immediately got worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, her voice full of concern.

Hotch was shocked, _How does she know?_ "Nothing," he lied.

"Why are you up if it's nothing, Aaron?"

"How do you know I'm up?"

"Cause I saw your light come on, and unless Jack is in the habit of getting up at 3:30 in the morning, it had to be you."

"I needed a drink; are you watching my house?"

She laughed. "I haven't gone to bed yet. You still didn't answer my question."

"I said I needed a drink."

"Tired as you are, you wouldn't wake up just to get a drink. Talk to me. What's wrong?"

He sighed heavily. "My chest's hurting. I hate taking those stupid pills," he lied again. He figured he could get away with it since she was on the other end of the phone and not be able to see his face.

"I see," she said and he realized she saw right through it.

"I'm fine. I'm just going to sit here until I get tired again."

"Ok. Then I'll let you go so you can relax."

He didn't like her tone. "You coming over tomorrow?"

"I'm sure I'll see you sometime."

He felt bad for lying, but he felt too embarrassed to admit he was having nightmares. "Maybe I'll come over to your house. I haven't seen it since you've unpacked."

"That's fine. I'll see you then," and she hung up.

_Damn it!_ Rossi told him not to screw it up, but he had the feeling he just did.


	33. Chapter 33

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 33**

Hotch spent the rest of the night on the couch dozing off and on. He didn't really rest, but he didn't have any more nightmares, either. JJ showed up to take Jack to school, and Hotch piddled around the house until he thought it was late enough to go over to Kahlan's. As soon as he stepped out of his porch he could see her car was gone, so he moped back inside. _God! She must be really pissed at me._ He took out his phone and called her. She didn't want to stay on the phone, though, as she told him she was spending the day with her sister in Winchester. _Shit! Make that extremely pissed_, he thought as she hung up.

He heard his door being unlocked and he looked and saw Rossi come in. _Shit!_ He wondered if she had called Rossi, but he dismissed the thought when he saw the jolly mood Rossi was in. Rossi came into the family room and his mood changed as soon as he studied Hotch's face. "You just gonna stand there looking at me, or are you gonna sit down?" Hotch asked him.

"You look like shit!"

"Thanks, Dave. Love you, too."

Rossi smiled thinly. "You need to get some rest, Aaron."

"I know, but my chest hurts too bad to sleep for very long," Hotch lied.

"Well, you just need to suck it up and take some of the damn pain pills I know you were given," Rossi told him seriously as he finally sat down. Hotch was about to protest. "Take them and sleep during the day, if you're worried about Jack. You'll never heal if you don't sleep."

"I know, I'm going to try tonight." Rossi gave him a look of disbelief. "I promise I'll take the pills tonight." _Maybe they'll knock me out enough that I won't have fucking nightmares._

"You want me to take Jack?"

Hotch considered that. He didn't like the idea of the pills knocking him out so much that he couldn't hear Jack if he needed him. "Yeah, that actually sounds like a good idea."

"Good. Now that that's solved, we were thinking about throwing Kahlan a dinner at my house tomorrow night. You think you could get her there under the pretense of just us five having dinner?"

Hotch knew the five was Hotch, Jack, Rossi, Kahlan, and Wyatt; but he wasn't sure he could do it after making her mad. "She's in Winchester with her sister right now. I don't know when she's coming home."

Rossi eyed Hotch, but Hotch didn't give anything away, or so he thought.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. She fixed Jack and I dinner, we talked for a little while, and then she went home." It wasn't a lie. "She hasn't been able to spend a lot of time with her family since she's moved back. Damn, give her a break."

Rossi studied Hotch again. "Well, you need to find out if she'll be back."

"I'm gonna call her later, then I'll let you know."

Rossi knew there was more to it than that, but he let it drop.

"By the way, who do I have to thank for cleaning up my house?"

Rossi smiled. "Kahlan and I did it, and let me tell you, the next time you pour a bunch of sand all over the place, you can clean it up!"

Hotch laughed but made himself stop as his chest hurt. "Thank you. I was actually just gonna use the leaf blower and blow it into the grass."

Rossi's face brows furrowed. "That would have been an awesome idea." He smiled. "Where are your pills?"

"Why?"

"Cause you're going to take them. Jack won't be home for several hours. You have plenty of time."

Hotch sighed. "In on my night stand." Rossi got up to get them and a glass of water. He brought them back and watched as Hotch swallowed them. "Happy know?" Hotch asked him.

"I will be when you get your ass in that bed and try to get some sleep. I'll actually just grab some of Jack's stuff and pick him up from school, that way you have all day and all night to sleep those circles under your eyes away."

Hotch didn't want to argue with him so he got up to help get Jack's stuff together. Once Rossi had Jack's bag ready he stood there apparently waiting for Hotch to go to bed. "I'm not even tired right now," Hotch lied.

Rossi studied him some more. "Well, don't fall asleep on the couch. That won't help your ribs."

"I will go to bed as soon as I feel I can go to sleep."

"You better. It would be really easy to kick your ass right now," Rossi told him.

"Ain't that the truth," Hotch told him as they walked back to the family room. "Kahlan wants me to get Jack a dog." Rossi was surprised by that. "She said Wyatt would watch it while I'm away, but she wants me to have one so I don't get surprised in my house again."

"Well, she has a point there. Any dog would bark at a stranger. I know that guy would have never had gotten by Mudgie," he told Hotch seriously.

"Jack actually wants a lab," Hotch told him with a smile.

"Well, they're great dogs. Won't Jack be staying with Kahlan more and more while we're on a case, anyway?"

"It will probably come to that, but I don't want to rush anything." _I have to get her over being mad, first!_

Rossi nodded. He knew Hotch would never rush into anything, but he was a little worried he may take too long. "Well, you'll know when the time is right," Rossi assured him. He noticed Hotch was blinking a little too slowly, and he knew the meds were kicking in. "I'm gonna go. Call me if you need anything," he told him as he got up.

Hotch followed him to the door. "Thanks, Dave, for everything."

"No problem, Aaron. Try to get some sleep," he told him as he patted his shoulder and left.

Hotch sat back down on the couch and laid his head back. He was trying to think of something he could do to make it up to Kahlan. He knew he was being a stubborn ass, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't used to sharing his weaknesses with other people.

He ended up drifting off to sleep, but within a few hours his nightmares had him awake. He shook his head. He didn't know how he was ever going to survive not being able to sleep. He got up and tried to find something to do.

He was able to waste the day away with a little reading, a little TV, and little cleaning of Jack's room, and several other meaningless things. He tried calling Kahlan twice, but it went to voicemail both times. He mentally kicked himself for not being straight with her, but he got a little mad that she would act that drastically over one conversation. He shook his head. _I'll never understand women!_ He was starting to realize why Rossi had been married three times.

Evening came and went, and he thought about taking a couple extra pain pills in hope that they would knock him out enough to actually sleep. His was getting up to get them, when his doorbell rang. He looked at the clock 9:47, and he wondered who it would be since no one had called to say they were coming over. He slowly walked to the door and was surprised to see Kahlan standing there.

"I know it's late, and I hope I didn't wake Jack, but I left my phone at my sister's, so I couldn't call first."

He moved to allow her to come in. "Jack's at Dave's. Where's Wyatt?"

"He stayed with Sandi. Can we talk?"

He sighed. "Sure." He led her to the table and sat down. She followed and turned a chair so she was sitting in front of him.

"Aaron, I spent a lot of time today thinking about our conversation last night."

"So have I."

"Well, I figured out what was wrong. What is wrong," she corrected as she studied his face. "I can think of only one thing that could stop you from sleeping, and I think you should talk about it."

He knew she had figured it out. He looked at the floor for a few moments. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't tell you I was having nightmares. How childish is that? Nightmares for Christ's sake!"

"So you were having nightmares about the boogey man being under your bed?"

He gave her a weird look. "No!"

"Then what was it about?"

He sighed, but he described the tree and the children's bodies and how they children had called out to him.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. That is really childish," she told him flatly. "Is that the only thing you hallucinated about the whole time?"

"No. God no. Too many horrible things to even want to remember."

"But you've only dreamed about the kids?"

"Yes, every time I close my eyes I can see their dead faces, and I can never save them."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't like making him face his fears, but he had to or he would never get over them. "So because the father in you can't handle seeing dead children, it's haunting you."

"I guess."

"How many children have you lost?" His questioning look made her explain more. "How many kids have died because you weren't able to catch an unsub fast enough?"

He looked shocked. "I don't know. I've never kept track."

"Five? Ten? Twenty?"

"I don't know," he told her and wondered if she was trying to be make him feel better or worse.

"Let's compromise and say it's ten. How many children have you saved by catching those same unsubs?"

"There's no way to really count the ones that would have been hurt."

"Really? Cause I know of five boys you saved last month alone." She let that sink in. "And let's just say that every unsub that you all caught that had hurt children, would have at least hurt one more. That you save just one child for every unsub you put away. "How many kids do you think you've saved? 50? 100?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as he considered it. He didn't have exact numbers, but he was sure they had saved more than they had lost.

"Damn, every time you look at Wyatt you should be reminded of the great things you have done for children, Aaron."

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

"I told you I didn't have a problem pointing it out when people were wrong. I guess you didn't believe me," she told him with a smile. "But having nightmares is not something to be ashamed of, either. Do you tell Jack that he shouldn't have them, that he's weak if he does?"

"No. But Jack's not a grown man."

"No, but what do you do to help him get over them?"

"I talk. . . I see what you mean."

"Talking about them, helps them to go away, correct?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said sheepishly.

She sighed. She knew he was a stubborn, proud man, but she had to let him know she could handle it if he wasn't. "Aaron, if you have any plans of _us_ going any further, you need to know you can trust me. That you can let me in," she told him seriously as she knelt in front of him and took his hands in hers. "We can't have a decent relationship if you're willing to comfort me when I need it, but you won't accept comfort when you need it."

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to having someone I can share myself with. Other than Dave, I've never had someone I can talk to about the fears of my job, or the consequences of those fears," he told her and squeezed her hands as his eyes teared up.

"I realize this is new to you, and I know it will take some getting used to, but please don't shut me out. I may not always understand or always be able to help, but I will always listen. I promise to always listen," she told him tenderly and stood up and hugged his neck.

He hugged her waist and let himself cry a few tears. "What have I ever done to deserve someone like you?"

She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. "Don't you ever doubt your worth! You are an amazing man, Aaron Hotchner!" she told him seriously. Then a cocky grin spread on her face. "You deserve the best."

He chuckled at that. "You are definitely the best."

She leaned down and gave him a kiss. "Now let's go to bed." He raised his eyebrows. "Not for that, I told you, you have to be healed first. I am going to lay with you. Maybe my presence will keep the dreams at bay," she told him as she led him to his bedroom.

He smiled. She let him crawl into bed and she snuggled up beside him, careful to not hurt him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. It did feel good to have her with him, and within minutes he drifted off to sleep.


	34. Chapter 34

_**The Children are Missing**_

**Chapter 34**

Hotch moaned and stretched as he came awake. He smiled as he realized Kahlan was already awake, but still lying next to him. "Hey, you," he told her as he put his arm around her again.

"Feel better?" She asked him as she snuggled back up against him. He had only cried out once in his sleep and when she put her leg across his and her arm gently across his neck, he'd settled right back down.

He looked at his clock, 10:38. "Yeah. Damn, I almost slept twelve hours," he told her and he gave her a kiss on her head. "Thanks, I needed that." He couldn't remember having any nightmares.

"Well, I don't know if it was me being here, or you talking about them, but I'm glad it helped." She turned and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"I could get used to you sleeping next to me," he told her seriously.

"Yeah, I slept petty good, too, but I have to get up before my bladder bursts," she told him with a smile and slid out of bed.

"You could have gotten up."

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you."

He watched her leave and got up and went in his own bathroom. He made his way out to the kitchen. He stretched a little more and made some coffee. He smiled as he realized he actually felt good.

"Want something to eat?" she asked as she came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.

"I can whip us up some eggs," he suggested as he turned to face her.

"Or you can relax, and I can make them."

He smiled and got out of the way as she grabbed the eggs from the fridge. "You got any plans today?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "I just need to go get Wyatt and my phone. Why?"

He smiled. "Dave wants us to come to dinner at his house," he told her, keeping his face passive.

"Scrambled?" He nodded, and she broke the eggs and whipped them up. "Why does Dave want to make us dinner?"

_Damn is this how everyone else feels when I question them?_ "I don't know why. Does he have to have a reason other than just being Dave?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Dave being Dave is always something to be suspicious of."

He laughed. "Yeah, well then you can call and tell him that we won't be coming because you're suspicious."

"No thanks. I'll just go, smile, and gracefully take whatever he has planned."

_Damn, she does know._ "Good," he told her as he fixed them both a cup of coffee.

"You want to ride with me to get Wyatt?"

"You want me to meet your sister?"

"Don't sound so shocked."

"Well, I'm not actually at the top of my game right now. I don't know how good the first impression will be."

"Well, you look pretty damn good to me, and that's all that matters. Besides, they'll love you," she told him as she plated the eggs and took them to the table. He grabbed the coffees and sat down beside her.

"They?"

"Her and her family, if they're around that is. Her youngest is ten years older than Wyatt."

They ate and talked and she left to go get ready and let him get ready. He was a little nervous. He hadn't had to meet anyone's family since Haley's and that was back in high school. He quickly called Dave and told him they would be there. He could hear the smile in Dave's voice as Dave told him to make sure they were there by 7:00.

XXX

The ride to, the visit, and the ride back was enjoyable. Hotch relaxed as soon as he met Kahlan's sister and her family. They were very down to earth and very friendly. Kahlan smiled at him as she walked up to his door with him. "You only have two more sisters and a mom left to meet."

"Not fair. I only have one brother."

"And he's nothing like you, is he?"

Hotch gave her a questioningly look. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh please, like one family could make more than one Aaron Hotchner," she told him with a smile as she followed him into the house. "You're an alpha, you're tall, dark; he must be shorter, blonde, more laid back, not an alpha, but definitely a beta. He's also probably good looking in his own right, too." He stared at her, dumbfounded. "What? Am I wrong?"

"Not in any way. You've talk to someone."

"I'm hurt," she told him as she put her hand over her heart.

He studied her. He couldn't tell if she had talked to someone or not. "You couldn't tell all that on your own," he told her as he sat on his couch. He was a profiler, and a damn good one, yet he had never learned how to tell a person's siblings. He didn't know of any studies on the topic either.

"It's simple genetics. No two adults could produce another son with such high quality genetics after they had produced such a great specimen the first time."

He just stared at her for a moment. "I don't think Sean would like to think of himself as genetically inferior."

"Not inferior, just different."

He still wanted to think that it was all bullshit. He eyed her suspiciously. "Then how do you explain siblings that look alike?" He smiled because he thought he put a crack in her reasoning.

"Because their all just alike genetically." He opened his mouth to say something. "They're all just average." He shut his mouth. She smiled as she proved her point.

"I still say you're full of shit," he told her with a smile.

She just flicked her eyebrows and smiled. "I'm gonna go get ready." She kissed him on the cheek and left.

He shook his head as he watched her leave.

XXX

Kahlan groaned when she saw all of the cars parked along the street by Rossi's house.

"Cool! Henry's here, too," Wyatt yelled from the back seat as soon as he noticed JJ's car.

"Yeah, everybody's here. Isn't that awesome?" Hotch asked him with a smile to Kahlan.

"Yeah," Wyatt told him and he got out and ran to the door.

Kahlan and Hotch got out, too, and they smiled as Jack and Henry ran out to greet Wyatt.

Rossi came out to greet them. "Well, it looks like you finally got some sleep," Rossi told Hotch as him looked him over.

"Yeah, I slept about twelve hours."

"Told you the pills would help," Rossi told him while giving Kahlan a kiss on the cheek. Hotch shot Kahlan a look.

"Yeah, I'm glad I listened to you," Hotch told him with a smile.

"What's all this about?" Kahlan asked Rossi as they followed him to the door.

"Just a little BAU get together."

"Then why am I here?"

He held open the door for them. "Same reason Will's here. If you're connected to one, you are a part of the whole family," he told her seriously. "Why? Don't you like parties?"

"Oh sure. As long as you don't try to get me to drink that shit again, I'll be good."

Rossi shook his head at her. "You know, for such a complicated woman, she sure does have simple tastes," Rossi told Hotch.

Hotch just grinned.

"Well, she likes Hotch, that right there shows how simple she is," Morgan joked as he winked at her.

"Hey!" Hotch yelled. "You're just jealous," he told him.

"Ohhhhh. Double oh agent's here!" Garcia yelled as she ran up to Kahlan and hugged her.

"Hey, Pen." Kahlan hugged her back.

"I never got say thank you for finding Boss Man."

"No thanks needed. Rossi, Morgan, and JJ are the ones who did all the work," Kahlan tried to blow her off.

Garcia gave her a wink and moved over to give Hotch a gentle hug. She knew she had to get them where she could because as soon as he was back to work he wouldn't let her do it again. Then she saw Wyatt, so she let go of Hotch and wrapped the boy in a big hug. "Aunt Pen!" Wyatt yelled as he tried to get away from her.

"Don't you Aunt Pen, me. I haven't seen you in several days," she told him and finally let him go play with the other boys. Mudgie chased them out into the yard.

JJ brought Kahlan a beer. "Where's mine?" Hotch asked her.

"Aren't you on pain meds?"

"Nope. Haven't needed them," Hotch told her honestly.

Rossi eyed him and looked at Kahlan who suddenly found his floor very interesting.

Morgan gave him one and they all went out into the yard. The air was chilly, but not cold. Rossi made sure everyone had a drink and was about to give a toast. Hotch noticed Kahlan wince and raised his beer in the air first. "Here's to all of you. Your hard work saved my ass again, and without you all, I probably wouldn't be here this evening to celebrate amongst such wonder people. I am glad I can you my friends."

"Here, here," everyone said as they all clinked glasses and bottles. When Hotch got to Rossi, he gave him a look and Rossi knew to let it drop.

They spent the evening enjoying each other's company and eating a wonderful meal Rossi had catered. Reid talked Kahlan into a game of chess and they were all watching it as they continued to talk. Reid was taking forever to decide on his moves, but Kahlan just reached up and moved while she was having a conversation with Garcia about Wyatt's school testing. "Yeah, he'll be going in to the fourth grade right on schedule."

"So they tested him and the school he missed didn't hold him back?"

"Actually the tests showed he could go into the sixth grade, but I don't want him to grow up that fast. If he's still able to skip grades, I'll let him decide that when he's older." She paused to move her queen. "He's missed too much of his childhood already."

"That's awesome. He'll go to Jack's school won't he?"

"Yep," Hotch said as he sat down beside Kahlan. They heard the boys scream in the back yard. Kahlan tensed but Hotch just laughed.

"I get to get a dog!" Jack yelled from the back yard. Everyone laughed; they all knew how long he had been asking for one.

Henry went running up to JJ and Will. He made them lean down so he could ask them something in their ears. After a quick discussion, Henry pouted and went back out into the yard. "Thanks, guys," JJ told Hotch and Kahlan.

Hotch gave her a small smile. "Sorry," Kahlan said as she reached up and moved her knight. "Check," she paused and looked at the board. "Actually, that's check mate, I believe."

Reid frantically searched the board. "How. . . what. . ."

Everyone busted out laughing at the look on Reid's face. "Bout time we finally have someone to beat the Pretty Boy," Morgan said as he gave Kahlan a high-five.

"You over analyze it," Kahlan told Reid as she got up to get another beer and patted him on the shoulder. Reid just stared at the board, trying to figure out where he went wrong. They all laughed again.

"Don't worry, Spence. You can always teach the boys," JJ told him.

Hotch went over to stand beside Rossi. They watched Kahlan as she started kicking the soccer ball around with the boys. Hotch shook his head and sighed heavily.

Rossi gave him a look. "What?"

"I think I'm going to be in trouble with her," he told Rossi with a smile.

"Oh yeah, lots of trouble."

*** That's the end of the main story, but stay with me as I post some future glimpses into the lives of this wonderful group.


	35. Chapter 35

**May 2013:**

Hotch and his team were on their rare second day of no cases. Most of the paperwork was caught up on the first day, so when Garcia suggested a nice family lunch at the local restaurant, everyone agreed. Hotch even called Kahlan to join them. Hotch was going to be stuck in bureau meetings all afternoon, so he told her he needed to see her to give him enough strength to make it through them. That and he knew Donna, Kahlan's sister, was visiting so he knew Wyatt would be taken care of, and he probably wouldn't be seeing her that night. "Sure, I'll meet you guys," she told him, and he could hear her smile.

She walked into the restaurant about three minutes after they had. He stood up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She raised her eyebrows at him when he pulled away. That was the first time he had kissed her in front of his team. With the wolf whistles and cat calls, she knew why, too. He just smiled and pulled her chair out for her.

Once they were all eating and enjoying themselves and each other's company, Kahlan was talking to Hotch and he noticed she glanced toward the door. Once she did it the second time, he saw her visibly tense. He looked to see what had upset her. He nudged Rossi's leg. When Rossi looked at Hotch, Hotch nodded toward the door. There stood a young man who looked desperate. "Ut-oh," Rossi said. All three of them knew what the man was about to do, and they all could see his hand in the pocket of his sweat jacket.

Hearing Rossi, all conversation at the table ceased and they all studied the man. "Oh, hell no," Morgan said quietly and was about to get up.

"Let me," Kahlan said and stood up and went to the boy. Morgan shot Hotch a look, but Hotch just sat there calmly.

Kahlan walked up to the boy slowly and approached his side. "Hey, hun. Can I discuss two things with you before you make the biggest mistake of your life?" The boy looked at Kahlan, not sure if she was talking to him or not.

Hotch noticed the barrel of a pistol pointing into the material of his jacket. The whole table was watching them.

"See that table right over there?" She asked him as she pointed with her thumb behind her toward Hotch and them. He looked over her shoulder and took the table in. Hotch moved his suit jacket back and hooked it behind his holster. The boy's eyes went wide. "Every person at that table is an FBI agent." She told him as she studied his face.

"What else did you want to discuss?" He asked her after he swallowed hard.

She smiled at him. "I would like to discuss that pistol you have in your pocket," she told him quietly. His eyes grew even, which she didn't think was possible. "You really don't want to pull that thing out in here in front of all of these innocent people, so I say we go outside and you let me buy that thing off of you for, let's say, $500."

He looked at her. She could tell he was trying to figure out if she was serious or trying to trick him. "Why?"

She smiled and led him outside. Morgan was about to jump up when Rossi put his hand on his arm.

"You are not just going to let her go out there alone, are you?" Blake asked Hotch.

Hotch smiled. "Oh, I think she can take care of herself."

"If anyone can, it's our double O-agent," Garcia agreed.

About five minutes later, Kahlan came in the door smiling. Not one innocent person in the restaurant had a clue about what had almost happened. She walked up and took her seat and resumed her meal as they all stared at her.

"Is he out there unconscious?" Morgan asked her.

She gave him a shocked look. "No."

The waitress came up and asked them if they would like anything else. Kahlan asked for a to-go bag. The waitress eyed the few fries she had left on her plate but said she would bring one right back. Conversation finally continued when they realized Kahlan was not going to tell them what had happened outside. The waitress handed Kahlan the bag and as soon as she left, Kahlan put the bag under the table and Hotch could hear it rustling. When they stood up to leave, she handed him the bag. "You may want to run ballistics on that. I doubt that boy did anything with it, but God knows where else it's been."

Hotch took the bag and leaned down to give her another kiss. "Have I told you how amazing you are?" he asked in a whisper at her ear.

She smiled. "Yeah, maybe a couple times. See you when you get home," she told him and headed out of the restaurant.

Rossi put his hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Yeah, definitely a lot of trouble," he told him with a smile.


	36. Chapter 36

**July 2013**

Hotch pulled into his drive way. When he got out of his car he could sense something wasn't right. He looked down to Kahlan's house, but he couldn't see anyone there. He started for his porch and he heard a twig snap. His head snapped to the right. Suddenly Jack came out of the bushes yelling and running towards Hotch. Instantly, Hotch was wet as Jack's aim was perfect with a huge water gun. "JJJaaaaccccckkkkkk!" Hotch yelled as he dropped his brief case and pulled off his suit jacket.

"Ut-oh," Jack yelled and ran around the house toward the back yard.

Hotch took off after his son, but as soon as he came around the corner, he was soaked. He had run right into a trap manned by Kahlan and Wyatt. "Hhheeeeyyyy!" Hotch yelled as he tried to block the stream of water that was hitting him in the face.

They were all laughing. "I told you it would work, Jack!" Kahlan yelled as she emptied her gun on Hotch.

"Really, Jack? You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Yipe!" Jack said and ran into the yard, his black lab puppy and his heels.

Wyatt had stopped squirting Hotch as soon as Kahlan's gun was empty. Hotch stood there, dripping. "Really, Wyatt? Do you really think it's fair that your mother is standing there, dry?" Hotch asked him with a grin.

Wyatt looked at his mom and smiled.

"Don't you dare!" She told him.

Wyatt glanced at Hotch. "I would never go against you, mom," he told her seriously.

She turned to Hotch with a look of satisfaction.

"But Dad can," Wyatt yelled as he threw the gun to Hotch. Hotch caught it easily and gave Kahlan an evil grin.

"Nnnooooo!" she yelled as Hotch let loose and soaked her as she tried to get to him and get the gun out of his hands. She ended up taking him to the ground and they laid there laughing. Jack ran up and shot Wyatt. Wyatt took off running to get away from the stream, his dog following him. Hotch and Kahlan laid there watching the laughing boys and their barking dogs.

"Did he just call me what I think he called me?" Hotch asked her.

"You heard that, too, huh?" She turned and looked him in the eyes. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," he told her and helped her get up. "Unless it is for you?"

"Not at all," she told him as she hugged him and went back to his driveway and picked up his suit jacket.

"That was all your doing, wasn't it?" He asked her as he picked up his briefcase.

"Maybe," she told him with a sly smile. "I'm going to run home and change. We eating here or at my house?"

"We'll eat at yours. We haven't used your kitchen in a while," He told and kissed her.

"I'll give you a call when it's done," she told him and handed him his jacket. He took it with a smile and watched her walk down the sidewalk. He sighed deeply and smiled as he went in to get out of his soaked clothes.


	37. Chapter 37

**September 2013:**

For several days Hotch had been acting weird. Kahlan wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew something was bothering him. When the boys wanted to walk up to Jack's house and get one of his games, Hotch seemed almost irked. He had never had a problem doing anything with the boys before, and she knew he wouldn't let them walk alone; but it bothered her that he seemed to be getting upset at the time they were spending going between the houses. When she asked him about it, he denied it. When she had asked him what was wrong, he always said it was nothing. She had even caught him in a lie a last week about having to work late. Rossi had called the house for him, so she knew he wasn't working. She felt like things had gone so far in their relationship, but it had just stalled, and she was worried about him getting bored with it. Just the day before at breakfast, Jack had slipped and called her 'mom', and Hotch almost choked on his coffee. She thought that maybe Hotch couldn't handle his son thinking of her as a mom. When she was going to ask him about it, he jumped up and said he had to leave for work.

She knew she'd have to set him down and make him talk to her, but they couldn't that night. Everyone was getting together at the bar to celebrate Rossi's birthday, and she knew Rossi was looking forward to them being there. She would just have to wait, until the next night. Her sister had come and got the boys, so she focused on getting ready. When Hotch got home, he texted her and told her he would be down to pick her up in an hour. She was waiting patiently at her table until she saw Hotch pull into her driveway.

She went out and got in and they drove to the bar in silence. She noticed he kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, but he wouldn't look at her directly. He looked like he was getting sick. He was paler than usual and he had sweat beaded on his forehead. She didn't want to discuss anything, so she let it go. They pulled up to the bar and he jumped out and opened her door for her with a smile. She returned the smile and put her hand in his and they walked into the bar together.

Everyone else was already there and having a good time. "Well, it's about time you two get here," Dave told them with a smile.

Kahlan hugged Dave. "Happy birthday," she told him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Hotch hugged him and wished him a happy birthday, too. Rossi thanked them and gave them the drinks he had already ordered.

Everyone had a good time. Morgan pulled Garcia and JJ out on the dance floor. Reid and Blake were discussing something. Rossi and Will were also in a conversation, so Kahlan found herself beside Hotch. He took a long drink of his scotch and put the glass down. He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eyes. "I can't do this anymore," he told her quietly.

"What?" She asked him in a shaky voice.

"This back and forth thing that we've seemed to have gotten so comfortable in. I can't do it anymore."

_Is he breaking up with me? Now? In public, and in front of his team? _"We can discuss this privately at home later," she told him in an icy tone. Morgan and the girls returned to the table. Morgan shot Hotch a look as it was clear they'd overheard.

"But I want to discuss this now," Hotch told as he stood up and squared his shoulders. Everyone at the table had stopped talking and was looking at them.

"Why would you want to end a good thing?" She asked as she shot a look at Garcia who had teared up.

"But I don't just want good," he told her as he stepped away from the table. Kahlan could tell by the looks on most of the the faces around her, that they were just as shocked as she was. Kahlan stood up straighter and squared her shoulders, about ready to tell Hotch off when he suddenly knelt down on one knee. She froze. "I don't just want good; I want great. And for this to be great, I want you to be a mother for my son, I want to be a father for your son, and I want us all in one house as a family. I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you have already made me." She noticed he was tearing up. Garcia had her hands pressed together like in prayer. "Kahlan Hunter, would you do me the honor of being my wife?" He asked as he took a ring box out of his pocket. Kahlan stood there in shock. She stared at the man she had fallen in love with, and her heart started racing and her breathing quickened. "And don't worry about the boys. I've already gotten their approval," he added quickly, clearly not liking her silence.

"Aaron Hotchner, you are an amazing man," she said through tears. "Yes! I would love to be your wife."

He slipped the ring on her finger and everyone clapped and hollered, including most of the strangers in the bar who had stopped to watch the scene.

She pulled him up and they kissed passionately to more clapping and hollering. When she finally pulled away from him, she noticed Rossi smiling smugly. _Of course Dave knew!_ The teamed gathered around them and gave hugs, kisses, and clasped hands to congratulate them. Rossi ordered a bottle of champagne. Once they all had a glass full, Rossi raised his glass. "They say nobody's perfect. While that may be true, I've never seen two people who couldn't be more perfectly fit for each other than these two wonderful people right here. Here's to a wonderful life for you and your family."

"Here, here!" They all yelled and clinked their glasses.

Hotch pulled Kahlan into a hug. "I'm going to kill you, you know that, right?" she whispered into his ear. He laughed. "How did you ever pull this off without me finding out?"

"I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. When Jack called you 'mom' yesterday, I thought I was busted for sure."

"When did you ask the boys?"

"I asked Wyatt about a month ago." She raised her eyebrows in shock. "Then I asked Jack about a week after Wyatt."

"So you've been thinking about asking me to marry you for over a month?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Actually I thought about it immediately after Wyatt called me 'dad' that day. I figured if he could see me like that then we definitely had to be doing the right thing." She shook her head. "But I didn't actually decide to do it for about a week after that. Then I was trying to figure out the right time and place, and when the team decided two weeks ago that we'd all get together for Dave's birthday I knew I wanted to do it tonight. Then I was worried about your ring being ready. It finally came in last week. I was getting so nervous, though, I actually thought I was going to throw up before we left," he confessed with a grin and leaned down to give her another kiss.

"So no more trying to figure out whose house we'll do whatever in?"

"I want you and Wyatt to move in with me and Jack. I don't want two inches to come between us, let alone two houses."

"Your house? Why can't you and Jack move in with me and Wyatt?" She asked, teasing him.

"Our house is bigger," he smiled. "But we'll keep your bed. It's more comfortable than mine," he told her with a devilish grin. She laughed at him.

Rossi came up and put one arm around each of them. "So when is this happening?"

Hotch looked at Kahlan, apparently it was going to her decision. "I don't know. Soon, but it's hard to plan things with your all's job."

"You pick a day, and I'll make sure we're on stand down," Rossi told her seriously. Kahlan knew if anyone could it was Rossi. "What kind of ceremony do you want?"

"Nothing too big or too fancy. As long as it includes all of you and my family, it will be perfect," she told him with a smile. "And of course, you have to walk me down the aisle." Rossi stared at her, shocked. He knew her father was gone, but he would have never have thought she'd want him to do that. "Even though you were just in the Marines and not in the Amry, I don't think Dad would mind."

He smiled widely, but his eyes filled with tears. "Anything for you, Kiddo," he told her and then gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away before anyone else saw him in his emotional state.

Hotch looked at her with raised brows, but smiled and drew her into a hug. "Could you be any more perfect?"

They spent the rest of the night celebrating and looking forward spending the rest of their lives together.

**If you want to actually see the wedding – leave a review and let me know.


	38. Chapter 38

**October 2013:**

Hotch drove down the road to his house. He instantly realized that Kahlan and the boys had been very busy. He pulled into the driveway and shook his head. To the right of the walkway leading to the porch there was a cemetery covering most of the yard. The wrought iron fence that surrounded it look like it was taken from some back country grave yard. There were several tombstones, some of which looked eerily real. A couple of the graves even had fresh dirt over them. By one of the tombstones, there was the upper half of a zombie breaking though the ground. He could tell it was animated, but it wasn't on apparently.

He made his way to the porch and noticed a ghost on a string running from the porch to a tree on the left of the walkway. His porch had been invaded. The whole right side of it was infested with spiders. Between the porch roof and the rail was a giant spider web with a giant furry spider waiting to catch its next victim. Next to the web was a cocooned corpse hanging upside down with several fist size spiders all over it. Hotch shuddered, it was just a little too real for his liking. On the left side of the porch a sinister looking scarecrow was hanging from the roof to look like it was dropping down and trying to attack. He took a deep breath. _When she said she was the Halloween Queen, she wasn't kidding!_ He went up the stairs and as soon as he made it past the railing, a giant spider lunged at him. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled as he jumped and almost fell down the stairs. He watched it slink back into position as it made creepy skittering noises.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry, Hun, I forgot that I had turned him on," Kahlan said from inside the screen door. Hotch noticed that she was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the smile on her face.

Hotch tentatively walked the rest of the way to the door, half expecting something else to jump out at him. "You know, we'll never get any trick or treaters," he told her as he made it into the house. She gave him a hurt look. "They're going to be too scared to come up on the porch."

She laughed. "And that's when we'll walk down to give them their candy."

He took the giant pumpkin out of her hands and put it on the floor so he could pull her into a hug and gave her a kiss. "You don't think this is a little over the top?"

"Not! I'm not even close to being done yet!" She told him as she took the pumpkin she had been carrying out onto the porch.

"Where did you ever even find all of this stuff?"

"I made most of it. I've been decorating my house for Halloween ever since I was in the sixth grade."

"Made it?"

"Yeah a lot of it. The boys are making their own pumpkins right now," she told him.

He walked into the kitchen. The island was covered with newspaper and the boys were making paper mache pumpkins. He smiled at them and their glue covered hands. "Isn't this cool, Dad?" Jack asked as he put a strip of paper on his pumpkin.

"Yeah it is. What do you think of outside?" They had never decorated for Halloween before, and he was a little worried that Jack might actually be frightened by it all.

"It's sooooo cool. Just wait until we get it all done. We'll have the scariest house in the neighborhood!"

Hotch didn't doubt that. "I made that one when I was in Kindergarten," Wyatt told him as he pointed to a normal size pumpkin with a diabolical grin.

Hotch went over and picked it up. "You made this?" he asked him. He thought it looked too real to have been made, but he could tell from its light weight that it had been made out of paper mache.

"With mom's help, but yeah. I even took it to school to show it off."

"This is awesome," Hotch admitted.

Kahlan came into the kitchen and put a plate of food into the microwave for Hotch. She smiled at the boys' progress. "Pretty cool, huh?" She asked Hotch as she put an arm around his waist.

"Yeah. Is the house going to be decorated on the inside as much as the outside for your party?"

"It's our party, and of course," she said with an evil grin.

He shook his head at her childlike joy over the holiday. "Reid is going to love this," he told her as he accepted his plate and they moved to the table. That's when he saw the back yard. It was covered with tubs and things that he knew would eventually be put up in and around the house. He shook his head again.

XXX

The next day Hotch pulled up to even a scarier house. The grave yard was bigger and it even had a mausoleum in the back with an opened door. It fascinated him, so he made his way around to it. On close inspection he realized it was made out of plywood and covered in styrofoam that had been carved and painted so well that it really looked like mortar covered brick. It looked as ancient as the fence surrounding the grave yard. He went to the fence and realized it was actually made out of PVC pipe. He smiled and shook his head. They could have easily have been movie props with how they looked. His alpha stirred as he realized that his girl was pretty handy. _ And a little demented!_

The left side of the driveway had been taken over by rows of corn that looked like it had grown there. In the middle of the rows of corn a grotesque pumpkin headed creature stuck out above the rows where he could be seen easily. His arms were strung out on a cross bar made out of branches. Hotch shuddered. He thought the damn thing looked like he was a minion from hell. He made his way to it and realized that it, too, had been made out of paper mache. He marveled at the detail of it. The pumpkin shell was amazing, and the twisted vines and other vegetation looked so real that it looked like it would actually rot.

He made his way to the walkway and found two giant evil looking pumpkins. They, too, had vines on them and hideous faces that made them look like they were just waiting to devour unsuspecting trick or treaters. He silently wondered what other horrors he was going to come home and find before Halloween.

He made his way into the house, prepared from the jumping spider, but it wasn't on. His entry way had been transformed into a haunted house. Spider webs hung everywhere. There were creepy pictures hung on the wall and the little shelf to the right of the door had been filled with jars of colored liquid and were labeled with names like 'goblin juice'. He laughed as he made his way into the kitchen. The boys were putting another coat on their pumpkins. He noticed that Jack's was starting to show crazy eyes. _Damn thing looks like a serial killer,_ he thought but told his son it looked great. Wyatt's was starting to look like it came out of some horror movie. He just smiled at the boys and went to put his things in his den.

XXX

The day before Halloween Hotch came home early for the party. He figured Kahlan would be running around frantically trying to get everything just right. He thanked God that they didn't get a case. He knew she would still have the party, because she had invited most of the neighborhood, but she would have been disappointed if the team couldn't attend. She had made it a point to tell then all that they could not visit that week as she prepared the house and yard. She didn't want them to see it until it was finished. Reid had been so intrigued that Hotch had to point out that Reid would have to face Kahlan's wrath if he accidently showed up beforehand. The look of fear on Reid's face, though, told Hotch that he wouldn't try to sneak a peek.

Once Hotch got his car parked in the garage and headed inside, he was floored. Everything was transformed. The dining room was decorated like some mad scientist's lab. The family room was done up to look old and decrepit, and the kitchen looked like a human slaughter house. He shook his head, as the profiler in him tried to start profiling the crime scene; it was that real looking. Then he wondered exactly how twisted Kahlan actually was. The boys' pumpkins were on the island in the kitchen. They were freshly painted and had battery operated candles in them.

He heard the boys running down the stairs and turned to see one hideous zombie and a gothic looking vampire followed by two big black dogs. His heart ached for a second to see the days of super heroes and fun costumes to be gone. He had to admit, though, that Jack made a very handsome vampire. "What do you think, Dad?" Jack asked as he ran up and slammed into Hotch's legs. "You guys look terrific!" Hotch told him and laughed at Wyatt while he zombie walked the rest of the way to Hotch. Wyatt acted like his was going to eat Hotch's leg, and Hotch hid behind Jack for protection. "Where's mom?" Hotch asked the laughing boys.

"She was in the kitchen," Wyatt told him as they took the dogs out into the back yard. Hotch noticed that Wyatt's Doberman, Sampson, had a big spiked collar on. Goliath, Jack's lab, was carrying around a decomposed arm in his mouth. Hotch laughed. _Even the damn dogs are dressed up._

He heard the garage door shut and realized that Kahlan had been outside. He found her in the kitchen checking some of the many finger foods she was making. "What do you need me to do?" he asked as he went up behind her and kissed her neck.

"Oh, you're gonna be a vampire, too, huh?" She joked.

"Yep, but I only have one victim in mind."

She turned around and smacked him on the chest. "Stop that. We have guests coming," she told him as she studied his face. "Although, you would make a very nice classic vampire with your hair and cheek bones."

He smiled. She hadn't asked if he would dress up, and he had mentioned that he never had before, but he knew she would be ecstatic if he actually did. "Think you could transform SSA Hotchner into a vampire?"

She beamed. "The world's sexiest vampire."

"Well, ya know. If ya got it, you gotta flaunt it."

She laughed. "Well, let me get these finished and I'll get you set up."

Hotch finally looked down at the tray in her hand. They were breadsticks formed into fingers, and when she put pizza sauce on the ends, they turned into bloody fingers. _Extremely demented!_

Hotch should have figured she would have a costume for him. By the time she was done with him his was in a black tux with tails, a white shirt, his hair slicked straight back, his face made even paler with white powder, dark circles under his eyes, the stereotypical red medal hanging on his chest and a few drops of blood and his chin. He studied himself in the full length mirror. _Hell, I could give Bela Lugosi a run for his money!_ He turned and his breath hitched in his chest as he took in Kahlan in the white full length gown. Her bride of Dracula rivaling any from the classic horror movies they had been watching the whole month.

"You like?"

Her face was done up to match his. He glided up to her, grabbed her, swung her around, and dipped her. He bent and bit her neck. She giggled. "I take that as a yes," she told him as she flicked her eyebrows at him. He moaned his approval, straighten her up, and kissed her passionately.

"Damn. Does Halloween only come around once a year?"

"You should see my devil costume."

Hotch moaned again. "I bet."

"But it's not appropriate for a party that includes kids," she told him seductively.

Hotch stifled a growl and kissed her again. "You are not nice."

She laughed and the door bell rung. They could hear the boys scrambling to answer it. "We better get down stairs," she told him as she headed for the bedroom door as she let her hand trail down his arm.

"Aarrgghhh," he said as he looked at the ceiling and tried to get himself under control.

XXX

Hotch caught a bunch of shit from the team about dressing up as soon as they saw him. He took it gracefully and helped Kahlan host the party. About an hour into the party, Hotch couldn't find any of his team, so he went in search for them. He stepped out onto the porch and noticed them in the driveway. He started to go out to him and the jumping spider got him again. The whole team laughed as they saw him jump and cuss. He reached them and heard they were discussing the decorations, and Hotch could hear Reid marveling about the craftsmanship of them. Hotch hadn't seen his yard on display in the dark and he found himself just as mesmerized as the rest of the team. A cold-fog machine had blanketed the whole yard in a thick bank of low lying fog. Expertly placed lights showed all the decorations. Even the mausoleum had a black light in it and there was a ghost flying around on the inside of it. The ghost behind the corn rows was swaying back and forth between the tree and the porch moaning the whole way. Strobe lights hit the corn guardian and the pole he was hooked to moved a little to make him look like he was trying to get off and attack somebody. The zombie by the tombstone was trying to claw its way out of the ground. Scary sound effects played from a stereo on the porch. As scary as it all was in the day, it was horrifying at night.

Rossi raised his brows at Hotch. "Kahlan did all this?"

Hotch smiled, which in the costume, looked scary, too. "The boys helped a bit."

Garcia stood there opened mouth. "She is scary good."

"Where did she get all this stuff?" Reid asked.

"She made most of it," Hotch told him. That shocked everyone.

"You know what horrible thought I just had?" Morgan asked them. They all looked at him. "She'd make one hell of challenging unsub."

Hotch almost choked on his drink of scotch. "Morgan!"

"Ohhh, you're right. She's twisted and demented and scary. . . all of the things we don't want in an unsub! Thank God she uses her powers for good!" Garcia told them.

Rossi laughed. "Yeah, thank God!"

"I would hate to see an unsub with this much imagination," JJ told them seriously.

Hotch shook his head and they all laughed.


	39. Chapter 39

**November 2013:**

It was November 2, a Saturday, and Hotch woke to an empty bed. He looked around the room, wondering where Kahlan was. The team had gotten home late the night before and Hotch realized it was already after ten. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The house was too quiet, and Hotch smiled as he figured Kahlan had taken the boys out to let him sleep. He was tempted to just lay back down, but he was never one to just lay around, even when there wasn't anything pressing that needed being done. He smiled as he realized he only had seven more days until the wedding. Everything was ready, Kahlan had planned the simple ceremony at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Atrium in Vienna. It was the closest thing she could get to having an outdoor wedding in November.

He stretched as he got up and decided to go see if there was any coffee. He made his way downstairs and as soon as rounded the corner to the kitchen, he was assaulted by the screams of "Happy Birthday" from the boys and Kahlan. Hotch stood there shocked, but smiled widely. "I didn't even think you guys were here."

Jack smiled. "We were being extra quiet," he told him as he went and gave his father a hug.

"Yeah, and it was driving them crazy," Kahlan laughed as she went over and gave him a kiss.

"We didn't think you were ever going to wake up," Wyatt told him as he took his turn at giving Hotch a hug.

"Well, being able to sleep in on my birthday is an awesome gift," Hotch told him as he noticed they had fixed breakfast. "Do I smell bacon?"

Kahlan laughed. "That's probably what woke you up. We have pancakes, too."

Jack steered Hotch to the table and Wyatt brought him a cup of coffee. Kahlan put a huge stack of pancakes on the table and all three of the males dug in as she grabbed the bacon and orange juice. She sat down and smiled as she took them in. She shook her head. Sometimes she felt like she had three boys living in the house and that made her smile again. She fixed her own plate. "We don't have to be Dave's until five. What do you want to do until then?"

He glanced at the boys, but they were focused on the food. He gave her a grin and winked.

She shook her head, she knew exactly what he wanted to do, but they couldn't with the boys there all day. "Is there something else you would like to do?"

"Nah, just hanging out with you guys all day sounds good to me."

So that's what they did. Everyone was at Dave's and he enjoyed the little party they threw him. They didn't make it a late night because of the boys. Once they were in bed and asleep, Hotch cuddled up with Kahlan on the couch. She gave him a sly smile and turned off the TV. "You want your present from me now?"

He chuckled. It hadn't escaped him that she had yet to give him a gift. She got up, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to their bedroom. She sat him on the bed and handed him a box. From the size and the weight he knew was it was. He opened it and his dimpled showed with the wide grin. "I remembered how much you loved that first dress you saw me in," she told him as she took the blood red, silk negligée that was mostly see through. "You do want me to try it on for you, right?"

"Oh yeah."

XXX

On November 9th, Hotch found himself pacing in the dressing room.

"Damn, Aaron, nervous much?" Rossi asked him with a smile.

"I shouldn't be, should I? This isn't my first wedding, so why I feel like I'm going to throw up?"

Dave laughed. "Have you eaten anything today?"

"No. Just the thought of if turns my stomach. Why am I so nervous?"

Dave put his hands on his shoulders and moved him to a chair. "Sit down and take a couple of slow deep breaths. It's almost time, and you don't want her to see you looking so stressed; she might get the wrong idea."

Hotch took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Rossi left the room, but came back quickly with a glass in his hand. He handed Hotch the glass and Hotch drank down the liquor in one drink. He took another deep breath and let the burn in his chest help calm him down. "Thanks, I needed that." Rossi patted him on the shoulder and the boys came into the room. They looked handsome in their black suits and brunt orange ties. Kahlan had picked fall colors for everything. Hotch was dressed just like the boys.

"You better keep an eye on him guys," Dave told them with a smile. "I better go see if she's ready." At the look on Hotch's face, Rossi could tell he got nervous again. "Jeeze, Aaron. Calm down, it's not like she isn't going to not come walking down the aisle." Rossi noticed the look of fear on his friend's face and shook his head. "You guys think you can get him where he needs to be? He looks like he might need a little help."

They boys laughed and said they'd be fine. Rossi patted Hotch on the back and left to go find Kahlan. He took the honor of walking her down the aisle very seriously. He knocked on her dressing room door, and he opened it when he heard her mother tell him he could. Rossi stood in the doorway as he took in Kahlan. Her off white gown went to the floor and was the perfect shade to compliment the orange of her sister's gowns. It was tight at her waist and flared out from the hips down. Her hair was done up in loose curls and little orange rose buds going throughout it, which stood out spectacularly on her black hair. "What?" she asked him, getting nervous at his silence.

"You look beautiful, Kiddo."

All of the women in the room smiled. Kahlan had never told Dave that that is what her father had called her when she was younger, but her sisters and mother weren't offended. They liked Dave since the first time they had met him, of course. Kahlan walked over to him and hugged him. "Thank you for doing this," she told him tenderly in his ear.

He cleared his throat and blinked back the tears that were forming. "My pleasure."

Garcia stuck her head in the room. "It's time."

Rossi smiled at Kahlan. "You ready?"

"Yep."

Her mom gave her a kiss and a hug. "You do look beautiful," she whispered through her tears and went to go take her seat.

Her sisters went out next, so they could walk with the boys down the aisle. When the wedding march stared, everyone stood up and watched as Rossi walked her down the aisle. Rossi could feel her hands shaking and he tightened his grip on her arm. Hotch couldn't hide the surprise on his face as he looked at the woman would soon be his wife. _God, you are beautiful!_ Hotch thought as he swallowed hard, still not exactly sure what he had done deserve such a woman. Everyone could see the love in his eyes. The traditional ceremony joined the two as Hotch placed a white gold ban on her finger. She noticed the subtle design on it was actually a male and female symbol connected in the middle and flanked by another male symbol on each side to represent their two boys. She placed a matching band on his finger. When the minister told him he could kiss the bride he pulled her to him, swung them a little and dipped her while he kissed her passionately. Everyone approved with whistles and clapping. They clapped again as the minister announced them 'husband and wife'.

The reception was held in another part of the atrium and Hotch and Kahlan danced the first dance to George Strait's 'Keeper of the Stars'. Kahlan raised her brows when the song started. She knew Hotch wasn't a big fan of country music. "It expresses my thoughts perfectly," he whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek as he slowly moved her around the dance floor. She smiled and felt like she was dreaming as she let him lead her around. "You are an amazing woman, Kahlan Hotchner," he told her with a smile.

She smiled. She like the way her new name sounded. "And you are an amazing man, Aaron Hotchner."

The reception went wonderfully. Everyone enjoyed themselves as they danced and drank. Kahlan almost cried when Harry and Jan showed up. They were the only members of her old team that she hadn't seen in a very long time. Hotch enlisted Chuck and Cameron's help in contacting them and inviting them. Kahlan danced with every male member of the BAU team, her two boys, her brother in-laws, and the male members of her old team. Hotch also took a turn at dancing with all of the women. Rossi even danced with Kahlan's mom, and that brought several raised brows from the members of the BAU team. Garcia was spending a lot of time with Cameron, and that seemed to make Morgan and Kevin a little jealous. Garcia pointed out that Cameron could give Morgan a run for his money if they had a contest to see who had the best abs in the room, and that made Morgan even more jealous.

Her sister took the boys home with her, and while the newlywed couple wasn't taking an actual honeymoon, they still wanted the night alone. Once the reception was over, Hotch and Kahlan told everyone good bye and headed home to spend the evening and night in each other's arms.

XXX

On November 21st, it was Hotch's turn to surprise Kahlan for her birthday. The BAU team was out of state on a case, but with Rossi help, Hotch chartered a plane to take him back home for the night. With the help of Kahlan's sisters, Hotch made sure the boys would be gone, and that Kahlan would be home enjoying the quiet time alone. He snuck in the house and finally found Kahlan soaking in a bubble bath with her eyes closed and her head phones on. _Thank God for that damn iPod!_ He smiled as he knew that was the only reason he had been able to sneak up on her. He thought about just going up and planting a kiss on her, but his gut warned him that may not be a good idea. He didn't want to scare her. _Yeah right! You don't want her to attack you and try to drown you! _ the little voice in his head laughed. So he took smiled as he shut the bathroom door roughly.

Kahlan's eyes snapped open but she quickly smiled when she saw who was standing in the bathroom. She pulled the headphones off her head slowly. "I thought you were in Florida on a case?"

"I was until about forty five minutes ago," he told her as he made his way over to her and leaned down to give her a kiss. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," she said with an evil grin and pulled him into the tub with her. Water splash everywhere and they laughed.

"If you wanted me to join you, you have asked me to get undressed first," he told her with a smile as he poured the water out of one of his shoes.

"I could have, but it wouldn't have been as much fun."

He as he threw his other shoe out of the tub and leaned up to kiss her passionately. Soon they were out of the tub and headed for the bed as Hotch struggled to get out of his soaking wet clothes.

"How long are you here for?" she asked between kisses.

"The plane leaves at six in the morning."

She moaned and pulled him onto the bed on top of her not wanting to waste any of their precious time.


	40. Chapter 40

**December 2013:**

Christmastime was a little strange for the Hotchner family. Jack still firmly believed in Santa, but poor Wyatt had found out the truth the hard way on the ranch. Hotch and Kahlan were glad when Wyatt wanted to keep up the wonderful childhood charade, though, and promised to play along with the adults. Both Jack and Wyatt had a hard time trying to figure out what they wanted for Christmas; them both saying they had everything they really wanted. Hotch and Kahlan spent many late nights discussing what to get them, and they had come up with several ideas just to shoot them down again.

Hotch was having just as hard of a time trying to figure out what to get Kahlan. He wanted to get her something that she had no idea about, so he didn't want to ask her what she wanted. She had left little hints here and there for little things, but Hotch was letting the boys get them. As he walked into the bullpen he was trying to come up with something special and he wasn't watching where he was going and he ran into Rossi. "Sorry, Dave," he told him as he picked up the files he had knocked out of Dave's hand.

"What has you so spaced out?" Dave asked as he walked with Hotch to his office.

"Christmas."

"Oh, yeah. Your first official Christmas as a family. You want just the perfect gift for your new wife."

Hotch nodded as he sat in his chair. "Any advice for a friend?"

"Stop stressing."

Hotch laughed. "Wow, that helps," he told him sarcastically.

"I mean it; you know Kahlan will love whatever you get her."

"Yeah, but that's not the point."

Garcia stuck her head in Hotch's office. "We have a case."

Both men got up and went to the conference room, thoughts about Christmas gone as they concentrated on the case at hand. They were headed to San Francisco; apparently someone was dressing up as Santa and was going around killing the Salvation Army bell ringers.

"Could the world get any sicker?" Garcia asked as she presented the case.

They were on the jet in less than thirty minutes. After the initial discussion of the case, Hotch went and sat in his usual seat in the back as he studied the files on his tablet. He put the tablet down and texted Kahlan to let her know where he was going. She responded with her usual, 'Be safe'. He knew it was going to be a long flight, so he took out a little notebook and flipped to the page where he had written down ideas on what to get Kahlan for Christmas. Every idea he had written down he had scratched out. He drummed his fingers on the table in front of him.

"What's got Hotch so nervous?" Morgan asked Rossi.

"Kahlan's Christmas present."

Morgan whistled. "Yeah that first gift has got to be perfect." Rossi gave him a questioningly look. "What? It sets the bar for the rest of the time. If it's too great then he'll never be able to top it again." Apparently Morgan had given it a lot of thought at one point in time or another.

Rossi shook his head. "Maybe with the type of women you date, but Kahlan's not like that."

Morgan looked hurt.

"He should get her some sort of Star Wars toy," Reid injected. With their looks he explained. "You didn't see the boxes of her old toys when we helped unload the moving truck?"

"How do you know they were hers and not Wyatt's?" Morgan asked.

"Because they had her name on them plus she had labeled them 'fragile' and 'collectible'. If she still has the toys she played with when she was young, then Hotch getting her something that goes with it would a nice surprise."

Rossi considered it a moment. He smiled and got up to go to Hotch.

"Hey," Rossi said as he sat down beside Hotch. Hotch acknowledged him with a look. "Have you seen Kahlan's toys?"

Hotch got a shocked looked. "Did you really just ask me that?"

"Jesus, Aaron. I meant real childhood toys."

Hotch relaxed a little, but gave Rossi a puzzled look. "What do mean, toys?"

"Reid said he saw boxes of her old toys when we helped you all move. Apparently you've never seen them."

"No, I didn't know she even had anything like that. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if she's still hanging on to them, then they must be special to her."

Hotch smiled. He thought he knew was Rossi was heading. "I could move my den downstairs, and then give her the room so she could display all of her stuff," he smiled widely. "That's genius, Dave."

"Yes it is, even though I was just going to suggest that you buy her something she was missing," Dave told him with a laugh.

"Yeah, I could do that, too," Hotch said with a laugh. "I'll have to get her out of the house a couple of times, though, Garcia could probably help with that, or maybe her sisters."

"You'll want Reid to come over and help when you're ready to set it up." Hotch gave him another puzzling look. "Are you going to be able to tell what should be displayed with what? Real fans and collectors can get pissy when you put things together that shouldn't be."

"True." Hotch looked at Reid. He gave him a smile and a nod to say thanks.

XXX

The first available weekend day, Hotch called Garcia to come and get Kahlan to go shopping. Once she left, Hotch and the boys got his den moved to a room in the basement that hadn't been used without any problems. Then they searched through the storage room and found the boxes of Kahlan's stuff. "I've always wondered what was in theses," Wyatt told them reverently.

"Well, they are not for playing with," Hotch told him and the boys could tell by his tone that he meant it.

They unpacked the boxes and spread everything out on the now empty den floor.

"I think we need some bookcases," Jack suggested.

"And some sort of glass case, maybe like a coffee table," Wyatt added.

"I think we need Uncle Spencer to help us figure out the best way to display all this," Hotch told them as he took his phone out to call Reid.

Within thirty minutes, Reid was organizing all of the toys into separate piles. "I think a big glass case would be very cool," Reid agreed with Wyatt.

"And a desk for the lamp and stuff," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, definitely a desk, too," Reid told him with a smile.

"Well, then we'll have to get that stuff the next day we can," Hotch told them.

"How are we gonna keep mom out of here until it's done?" Jack asked.

"She never comes in here anyway, but I'll lock the door just in case. We just need to make sure she doesn't go in the room downstairs either," Hotch told the boys expecting their help.

XXX

Garcia helped Hotch get the right pieces of furniture and even had them delivered to Morgan's so the first chance they got, they could sneak them into the house. Reid helped him pick out something to go with the collection, and by Christmas morning everything was perfect.

The boys came downstairs to find new laptops from Santa, and after breakfast, they sat down to open their gifts to each other. Hotch made sure to keep his present to Kahlan for last. Hotch accepted Kahlan's gift to him; it was three boxes wrapped together. Hotch looked at questioningly, but her face revealed nothing of course. He thought he knew what the biggest one was; he had received enough pen cases in his life to recognize the shape, so he put that one off to the side and opened one of the smaller ones. To his surprise it was a pair of cufflinks. He was pretty sure they were made of platinum, but he wasn't going to ask. "Those are for when you work," Kahlan told him with a smile.

"Work?" Hotch asked as he took them out of the package. _Maybe they're not platinum._ He laughed when he realized what they really were. They looked like normal cufflinks, but the inside piece was actually a handcuff key.

"I hope you never have to use them, but they make for a cool safety accessory."

"Yeah, cool." Then he opened the next little box, expecting to find some other gadget, but a wide smiled spread on his face as he took in the box's content.

"Your brother told me you used to collect coins when you were young," she explained.

Sitting in the box was a 1944 Steel Wheat Penny. "This thing has got to be worth a lot of. . ."

"Nothing. Not if you don't actually sell it." Kahlan tried to play it off.

Hotch knew though that the thing was probably worth over $50,000. Apparently Kahlan didn't want to discuss that, though. "Wow," he told her with a smile. Then he opened the box that he thought was a pen, and he wasn't exactly sure what it was. It looked like a pen, but he knew it wasn't.

Seeing his face, Kahlan laughed. "That's for work, too." She said and then leaned in to whisper because she didn't want the boys to hear. "It's a pen pistol. It shoots tranquilizer bullets."

"Very cool!" Hotch could think of a few times when that would have come in handy.

He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I suppose you want yours now, huh?"

She smiled excitedly, so Hotch got up and grabbed it from behind the tree. It was a big box about a foot deep, three feet long and two and half feet wide. She looked at the box, clearly trying to figure out what was in it. She went to shake it like the boys had done with their presents, but Hotch stopped her quickly. "Is it breakable?"

"It can be, but it's not glass if that's what you're asking."

She looked at him with furrowed brows, then started unwrapping it. Once she got a glimpse of the corner of the box she frantically tore it the rest of the way open. "Oh My God!" she told him with the biggest smile he had ever seen. "This is what it is, right?" She asked desperately as she looked at an original Millennium Falcon toy that had been sold in the eighties. She noticed the boys smiling at her.

Hotch laughed. "Yes. That would have been a good prank, though." With her look he quickly added, "cruel, but funny."

"That would have deserved a punch! But this definitely deserves a kiss!" she told him, and she leaned over and gave him one. "Wait, how did you know I didn't already have one?" she asked him suspiciously. "And how would know I would even want one?"

"Because." He said as he stood up and reached out for her hand. She eyed him suspiciously but let him take her hand. The boys got up, too. He led her to his den. She looked at him questioningly. He smiled and opened the door and moved to the side so she could see in it. "Because we knew when we did the rest of your present."

She looked past him and her breath caught in her chest. She looked at the boys and knew they were just as excited as she was. She walked into the room and slowly looked at everything. "Reid helped us with the displays," Hotch explained as they followed her into the room. Hotch noticed her eyes watering, and he turned to the boys and gave them high-fives. "This is. . ." she took a deep breath. "This is amazing," she told as she looked at the glass case table that held most of her GI Joe stuff. It was set up to look like they were in a battle: Joes verses Cobra. The book cases held all of her Star Wars stuff set up in the different scenes and such. One shelf was dedicated to all of her transformers, and another to her matchbox cars. All of her old posters were displayed on the walls, too

"So we did good?" Hotch asked.

"Come here. All of you," she told them as she held out her arms and pulled them all into a hug.

"Where are you gonna put the Falcon?" Wyatt asked her.

She smiled. "I'm gonna hang it right over the desk, right above my Darth Vader light." She suddenly looked at Hotch. "Where's your stuff? You weren't supposed to give up your room."

"We moved it downstairs to that room we hadn't done anything with," he told her with a smile.

She shook her head. "I can't believe you all did this without me knowing." She walked up and pulled Hotch into another hug. "You don't mind that your wife was the world's biggest tomboy?"

Hotch laughed. "Not in the slightest."

"I better go get the turkey on," she told him and went to the kitchen. Hotch watched her wipe her face as she walked away.

Dave, Reid, and Garcia were joining them for dinner since they didn't have anywhere else to go, and within no time they were all enjoying a Christmas with family.


	41. Chapter 41

**January 2014:**

Hotch sighed, it was the seventh day that the team had been in Maine. The case wasn't an overly complicated one; the snow was just hampering everything. The weather was fine when they got there, but it had snowed every day since. Either they were stuck in the hotel and not able to do anything, or they were stuck at the station and only able to keep going over the files and evidence again. Their unsub was a serial rapist, and he had attacked three women already. In the begging, the unsub had been able to keep traveling and that just led them to feeling anger at their lack of mobility. The local sheriff had snow mobiles on their way, but they were trapped over a hundred miles away because another massive storm. They had warned the public and they hadn't heard of a new attack in two days, so they all hoped the unsub was trapped somewhere, too.

Hotch paced in his room, even if they caught the guy immediately, they probably wouldn't be able to get home. Cabin fever was definitely settling in for his whole team. He sat down on the bed roughly. He couldn't stand knowing there was an unsub out there that he couldn't even attempt to go find. He knew his team felt the same, and they were all in foul moods. Garcia couldn't even get Morgan to smile when she had called him earlier, and Hotch knew that something would have to change soon, or his team was going to blow. He even found himself a little short when he had talk to the boys earlier, and he had to appologize. They, of course, said it was fine, but he hated that he was letting the case and the weather get to him so much. He picked up a pillow off the bed and screamed into it. He smiled; he felt a little better after the release of tension, but as he sat there looking around the room, it disappeared quickly. With a huff, he got up and left his room to go find Rossi. Rossi always knew what to do and say to make him feel better.

XXX

Two days later, and a break in the weather, let the snowmobiles arrive and they were able to travel. The finally had a chance to run down a few leads and in one more day, they had their unsub. As happy as they were about that, the incoming weather told them they wouldn't be flying home any time soon; and the teams moods kept getting darker and darker. Kahlan suggested that he get the team together and go out for lunch, so he figured he would before they all got trapped in the hotel, again.

The next day, he asked them. They all agreed and as soon as they all stepped out of the hotel, they were attacked. Snowballs rained down on all of them from all directions. After the initial shock of it, they all realized who was throwing the snowballs. Will, Kahlan, Garcia, Wyatt, Jack, and Henry stood there laughing at them. "Wow, for being top trained FBI agents, you guys sure were easy targets," Will told them in his heavy accent. JJ stood in shock as Henry threw another snowball at her; hitting her square in the face.

"How. . . When. . . What?" She sputtered as she wiped the snow off her face.

Garcia laughed. "Kahlan said you all needed some company," she told them as she went up and hugged the shocked Morgan, which actually was a ruse to put snow down the back of his shirt. He screamed and reached down and got a handful of snow. She screamed and took off running.

Hotch walked up and gave Kahlan a hug after he made sure her hands were empty. "How did you all get here?"

"You seem to forget I lived in South Dakota. This was nothing to drive in," she told him with a smile as Jack and Wyatt snuck up behind him. He leaned in to give her a kiss. She deftly avoided it and helped the boys take him to the ground. He was quickly buried in the snow with screams and laughter. Hotch quickly grabbed Jack and rolled him in the snow.

Reid laughed and Wyatt ran after him with a snowball, Reid screamed and took off running.

Blake stood there laughing at it all until a snowball hit her on the right shoulder. Her head snapped to the right. There stood her husband. He had been home for only two days before they had left to go to Maine. She stood there shocked, and he went to her and pulled her into a hug.

Rossi stood there watching it all, smiling. He had known Kahlan was on the way with the rest of his extended family. He had given her the go ahead as soon as they caught their unsub. _This is what makes life worth living._


	42. Chapter 42

**February 2014:**

Hotch looked at the alarm clock on his night stand. 4:14. Garcia had called. They had a case and he was dressing quietly, trying not to wake Kahlan or the boys. He grabbed his briefcase and headed out the door. The team met at the BAU, had their initial meeting, and was on the jet by five. They were headed to New Mexico to help stop a spree killer who had killed six and wounded fourteen as he shot up a local movie theater the night before. The cops had no leads, but an anonymous call to 911, threatened more shooting the next day, so they asked for the BAU's help.

Hotch sat in the back of the jet, looking over the files on his tablet. Most everyone else was trying to catch a few winks because they hadn't gotten home from Ohio until late the night before. Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting a headache from too little sleep and too much stress. He picked up his briefcase and placed it on the table in front of him. He undid the clasps and opened it, looking for a pen that was normally in his suit pocket. When he looked in the briefcase he froze.

Rossi, ever vigilant of his friend, noticed the look on Hotch's face. He wasn't sure what Hotch was seeing, but he knew it was something Hotch didn't expect to find. When Hotch didn't move for a couple of seconds, Rossi got worried and got up to check on him.

As Rossi walked towards him, Hotch looked up at him. Rossi wasn't sure what was in his friend's eyes, but he thought it looked a little like terror. "What the hell, Hotch?" Rossi asked as he quickened his pace. Everyone else on the silent jet heard the concern in Rossi's voice and sat up, trying to figure out what was going on. They all noticed Hotch's face. He was looking at his opened briefcase again.

Rossi got to him and looked in the opened case and a wide smile formed on the older man's face. "Are you ok, Aaron?"

Hotch blinked several times and looked at Rossi like he had just realized the man was standing next to him.

"What?" Morgan asked for the rest of the team.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Hotch asked Rossi in a low voice.

"I don't know. She's your wife. What else could it mean?"

"What?" JJ asked as the team got up to find out what was going on.

Hotch gave a nervous chuckle and reached into the case. By the time they all joined him; he showed them what had been put in it.

In his hand was a clear baby bottle. On the inside, facing out was a picture of a sonogram, showing the little life that was beginning to grow inside Kahlan.

"Oh my God, Hotch. That's awesome, man. Congrats!" Morgan told him as Hotch handed the bottle to JJ.

"Wow! You didn't know?" Blake asked him.

Hotch's voice had apparently left him again; all he did was shake his head.

"This is great, Hotch," JJ told him as she handed the bottle to Reid.

"I would say by the size, that you're about two months along. Are you going to call her?" Reid asked.

Hotch looked at his watch.

"Not this early. She needs her sleep," Rossi told him. "When was the last time you looked in there?"

Hotch furrowed his brows, thinking. A look of panic struck him. "Actually, I don't think I even opened on the last case."

"She could have hid that in there over a week and a half ago?" Blake asked in a tone that told Hotch he could be in some serious hot water.

"Shit!" Hotch said aloud. Everyone gave him a weird looked. Hotch hardly ever cussed in front of them unless he was referring to an unsub, but that was still rare.

"Calm down. If she was worried about it, she would have gotten you to open it. Besides, you don't know. She could have put that in there last night," Rossi assured him with pat on his shoulder.

"Garcia's gonna flip!" JJ told him as she went back to her seat. Blake gave Hotch back the bottle, and everyone went back to their seats still smiling for their boss. They all started discussing what the child might look and be like.

Rossi sat down across from Hotch and closed the briefcase so he could see his friend's face. Hotch still wore a look of shock. "Calm down, Aaron. It's not like this is your first rodeo."

Hotch shook his head, and finally a smile spread across his face. "No it's not, but I wasn't expecting this." He leaned in close to Rossi so no one else could hear him. "It's not like we're some young couple, Dave."

Rossi laughed. "Well, apparently your bodies disagree." He looked at Hotch with a serious look. "You are ok with this, right?"

"Oh yeah," Hotch told him with a goofy grin.

XXX

One month later Hotch and Kahlan were discussing the baby. "We can put the boys together, and give the baby Jack's room," Hotch suggested.

"And make them resent the baby before it's even here?"

"Well, what do you propose?"

"I say we find a bigger place. We find a place that will keep us all happy."

Hotch considered it. His house had seemed big enough in the beginning, but he had to admit it had started getting a little cramped. "Alright. You find a few you want to look at, and we'll look at them together. It's about time we have a house that's 'ours' and not mine," he told her with a kiss and got up to leave for work.

They ended up buying one three streets down from where they were living. They didn't want the boys to have to change schools, and they loved the neighborhood anyway. Hotch and Kahlan had their offices on the main floor, the boys had their own rooms in the finished basement, and they even had a guest bedroom up stairs where the master suit and baby's rooms were. The team and Kahlan's family all got together and they were moved within a month. They decided to paint the baby's room white and they used a lot of primary colors as accents.

Hotch was having trouble putting the crib together and Kahlan laughed at him for not wanting to read the instructions. "It has been a while since I put one of these together," he defended himself.

Kahlan was sitting in the rocker they had already put together. "I told you we should have got one already assembled."

"Yeah, well, then you wouldn't have had the opportunity to laugh at me," he told her as he knelt by her and put his hand on her belly. She really wasn't showing yet, but he just couldn't seem to not touch her anymore.

XXX

Three months later Hotch was able to go to the doctor's appointment with Kahlan. "So do you want to know what it is?" The female doctor asked as she angled the sonogram probe a different way.

Kahlan looked at Hotch questioningly. Hotch just shrugged. "I don't care if you don't care."

"Sure," Kahlan told her.

The doctor angled the probe again. "Congratulations, looks like you're going to have a little girl," she told them with a smile as she pressed a few buttons on the machine and handed Hotch a new picture of his daughter.

He stared at the picture lovingly.

"Oh, the poor child," Kahlan said with a grin. Hotch gave her a puzzled look. "Oh please. I feel sorry for her already. I can see it now, she'll never find someone brave enough to date her with you as her father and Wyatt and Jack for big brothers."

Hotch laughed. "Well, she'll just have to wait until she's twenty five."

XXX

Four months later Hotch stood next to Kahlan's bed holding a beautiful little girl wrapped in a pink blanket. She had dark hair and blue eyes, but he thought they were the blue that would change, not the blue of Kahlan's eyes. Tears were escaping his eyes as he looked at her, and she didn't know it yet, but she already had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. The whole team and two of Kahlan's sisters were there.

"So what's her name," Kahlan's sister, Donna, asked.

Hotch looked to Kahlan. They had discussed names, but they hadn't actually decided on one. Kahlan smiled, she knew which one Hotch had already decided on. She nodded and let him tell them. "Angelique Josette," Hotch told them with a smile. "Daddy's little angel," he added softly with a kiss to his daughters cheek.

Rossi came up to look at the baby over Hotch's shoulder. "You guys did good," he told him as he patted Hotch on the back.

"You want to hold your God daughter?" Kahlan asked Rossi.

His face was priceless, and Hotch gently laid the little bundle in Rossi arms as he teared up. He smiled down at sleeping child. "I think she's going to be more of a 'Joey' then an 'Angel'," Dave told them as he lost his heart to the child in his arms.

Hotch went over and put his arm around Kahlan. They smiled at Rossi, knowing that their daughter couldn't ask for a better God father.

"How can you tell that already?" Reid asked him as if he was missing something.

"I just do," Rossi told him proudly. "Isn't that right, Kiddo?" He asked the baby and pulled her close to give her a kiss.

"Ohhhh, my turn," Garcia said as she bounced up and down lightly.

They all laughed and everyone got his and her turn at holding the newest member of the BAU family. Kahlan pulled Hotch down and gave him a kiss. "We couldn't ask for a more perfect family," she told him as she turned and looked at all of the wonderful people in her room.

"Nope," was all Hotch said with a smile. _My thoughts exactly!_

**The End – but keep on the look out for a future fic that will be a sort of sequel to this one. **


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